Syria: a civil war (closed)

[J Wolfsberger]

In today's Wall Street Journal: The Case for Arming the Syrian Opposition by Mark Palmer and Paul Wolfowitz. I don't think it's behind a pay wall, but if it is PM me.

It starts with this:

While the slaughter continues in Syria, the U.S. is in danger of repeating the mistake made 20 years ago when we refused to arm the Bosnians.

They go on to advocate making the same mistakes we made in Bosnia 20 or so years ago.

This gem stood out:

Material support must also include weapons. But that does not mean tanks or artillery or other weapons that would escalate the violence. What the opposition needs are defensive weapons so it can protect its own people, particularly defectors from the Syrian army.

So I guess we give them rifles, but no tanks or artillery to protect against tanks and artillery because that would escalate the violence? It's scary that these are supposed to be smart people.