Thursday, May 30, 2013

Obama's cautious approach to Syrian intervention sparks growing concern

Given the recent US track record in the Middle East, however, it's not surprising that the White House is treading carefully

in Washington
guardian.co.uk,
Foreign policy has long been where second-term US presidents turn when they run out of political clout back home. But for Barack Obama, accusations of drift and inaction on the domestic front are only compounded by his lack of progress internationally, particularly when it comes to the biggest challenge of all: preventing war in Syria from fatally destabilising the Middle East......

Part of the problem, argues Hof, is that other powers such as Russia, Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are much more determined to prop up Assad than the West is to support the rebels. "This is a war that Iran and Hezbollah have decided not to lose," he says. "We are not yet seeing that level of resolve on behalf of the US administration.".......

"Everyone wants the US to do more of something," Cordesman told the Guardian. "More of what is a much harder question to answer."
He argues that prospects for meaningful talks in Geneva were always limited and the Syrian conflict is fast spiralling into a clash between Sunni and Shia across the Arab world, rather than just a disagreement between Russia and the West.

"The prospects for peace were always negligible and the chances of this escalating are significant," adds Cordesman, who was once an adviser to Senator McCain......."

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