Two things strike me about this opinion piece...Originally Posted by TheCurmudgeon
First, all the discussion of developing a Syrian transition plan seems to revolve around the need to bring in Iran, Russia, Turkey, etc. There's very little mention of how to get Syrians involved, particularly of how to figure out who speaks for the opposition and its various factions. I can't see how a viable Syrian transition plan is going to be contrived by non-Syrians.
I also think it unlikely (to say the least) that Iran and Russia are going to be sitting down with the US to work out Syria's future any time soon.
Second, as in so many other places there's an assumption that there will be terrible "spillover" and dire impacts on the region as a whole, but no clear idea of what exactly is feared. It's difficult to address that issue without a better idea of what specific scenarios are anticipated and why exactly they are so dreadful, especially if the need to prevent this "spillover" is being cited as a justification for intervention.
I personally doubt that such a force could even be assembled, let alone be effective, but I'm skeptical by nature.
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