The civil war in Syria — and, yes, it is a civil war — is entering a new phase, if a story in The New York Times today can be believed. Syria has become a proxy war between the United States and Russia.
On the one hand, we have the United States aiding rebel groups, helping direct the flow of arms and weighing the need to directly provide weapons — and fighters? — to rebel groups; on the other, we are loudly criticizing Russia for its alliance with the Syrian government and the arms it is providing.
No doubt, Syria is engaged in a brutal crackdown. No doubt, the rebels are at a disadvantage. And no doubt, Russia is hip deep in the violence because it has been shipping arms to the government.
But arming them is not the way to fix this. Instead, it will set up a new proxy war in the region between Russia and the U.S. with Russia seeking to defend its influence in a volatile region.
Working with Russia to end the flow of arms into Syria and convincing Russia and China to work through United Nations to end the fighting has to be exhausted before anything else is placed on the table.
Even then, the military option should be kept locked away, avoided at all costs.
Hank Kalet 