Open U.S. Intervention in Syrian War

Most of us are waking up to the following news about the Syrian war:

WASHINGTON — “The White House declared Thursday that Syria had crossed a ‘red line’ by using chemical weapons in that country’s civil war, and in response, U.S. officials said, President Obama had authorized sending arms to some rebel groups.

The arms will be provided to the rebel Supreme Military Council, an official said. The council is the military arm of an umbrella group that represents more moderate factions of the forces arrayed against the government of President Bashar Assad. White House officials would not comment on the decision to supply arms.” [….] See today’s Los Angeles Times.

Does this in part reflect the substantial influence of “liberal hawks” like Susan Rice and Samantha Power?

As to several compelling reasons we might be distressed by this development, please see David Bromwich, “Stay Out of Syria,” in the New York Review of Books, and Patrick Cockburn’s piece on the Syrian war in the London Review of Books.

Images: “Before” and “after” (the war) pictures respectively of the Great Mosque of Aleppo.