Question

Submitted by Alex (United States), Apr 12, 2013 at 18:08

As a Kansan, I must admit that I had no idea what a "Snail Darter" was. Dr. Pipes' photo caption that quizzically compares Barack Obama to Presidents FD Roosevelt and Reagan reminds me of the wise-crack from Seinfeld that Jerry uttered when he found out that George, who had been unemployed living at his parents' house, had landed a job with the New York Yankees; "Ruth; Gehrig; Mantle ... Costanza?"

On a more serious note, I am not sure I understand the following passage from this article by Dr. Pipes (with which I think I agree strongly):

"Western governments should find mechanisms to compel the hostile parties to abide by the rules of war, specifically those that isolate combatants from non-combatants. This could entail pressuring the rebels' suppliers (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar) and the Syrian government's supporters (Russia, China) to condition aid on their abiding by the rules of war; it could even involve Western use of force against violators on either side."

How to differentiate between Western military intervention to punish the behavior of either side in the Syrian civil war from that which the Obama Administration might consider now and thereby endanger civilians?

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