Syria options

There aren’t many options left, as Syrian security forces advance to besiege Aleppo and Idlib with Russian and Iranian support. But here are the ones that make some sort of sense to me, with a few pros and cons:

1. Impose a no-fly zone over a humanitarian corridor from the Turkish border to Aleppo or even Idlib.

Pro: protects hundreds of thousands of civilians currently at risk from Russian bombardment.

Con: would require the Russians to cooperate, which is unlikely, or American willingness to shoot down Russian aircraft, which is even more unlikely.

2. Down Syrian helicopters that use barrel bombs to terrorize civilian populations, either with US or Turkish air assets or by providing opposition fighters on the ground with the needed anti-aircraft weapons.

Pro: protects civilians without challenging Russian fixed-wing aircraft.

Con: brings the US or Turkey into direct conflict with Syria, or risks proliferation to unreliable forces of anti-aircraft weapons that might be misused.

3. Open the arms supply spigot to the opposition, which has seen the flow sharply reduced in recent months.

Pro: enables Syrians to protect themselves and provides leverage over the regime and the Russians.

Con: re-escalates a war Washington had been trying to end, and in any event it is late in the game for this move to have much impact.

4. Support deployment of Arab ground troops, taking up a recent Saudi/Gulf offer.

Pro: could be deployed to protect some civilian areas, though the offer appeared to be premised on US participation, which is unlikely.

Con: Gulf troops would likely end up clashing with Islamic State or Jabhat al Nusra fighters, with uncertain consequences.

5. Expand US air attacks to include Hizbollah.

Pro: Washington says it is fighting terrorists in Syria; Hizbollah has attacked and killed many more American in terrorist acts than the Islamic State.

Con: Hizbollah and Iran can be expected to retaliate against Americans, most likely somewhere in the Middle East but possibly even at home.

6. Do nothing military and stick with the diplomacy.

Pro: the US stays our of a situation that is increasingly messy.

Con: Putin’s Russia gets to dictate terms, Assad stays in place and Syrians suffer.

None of these propositions is a slam dunk. All would entail American willingness to get more deeply involved in Syria. I haven’t heard a great clamor for that, despite some bold op/ed writing.

President Obama, who is often criticized for being irresolute, is demonstrating iron commitment to  not getting involved in the Syrian civil war and keeping his focus exclusively on the Islamic State. His predecessors have been far less disciplined, even if most of them also resisted at first. Bush 41 intervened in Panama and Somalia, Clinton in Bosnia and Kosovo, Bush 43 in Afghanistan and Iraq. Even Obama intervened in Libya, but regrets what happened thereafter.

The results of all these interventions were mixed, with the best results in Panama and the Balkans. Afghanistan and Iraq are arguably closer to the situation in Syria than some of the other countries named. That’s not a good omen. Obama has good reason to hesitate, even if I think he made a big mistake (years ago) that will dog his legacy.

I’d certainly like to see the President consider downing the barrel-bombing helicopters and expanding US attacks to Hizbollah, which is becoming a major force multiplier for an Assad regime that is running short on manpower. Those two moves could be justified on humanitarian grounds and would vastly improve the American diplomatic posture, without clashing directly with the Russians or committing ground forces.

Tell me: which option would you choose?