Rushing Toward Mistakes

Hasty action in the Middle East has lasting (and often unintended) consequences. If we proceed down the war path, we may leave Syria in the hands of al-Qaeda sympathizers and make the situation there literally unlivable for that nation's Christian minority. If America pauses now to fully pin the blame on those culpable in the apparent chemical weapons attack, US intelligence agencies and military advisers working in Turkey or Jordan under their auspices can develop, form, and train a true free Syrian militia to ensure that those who will replace Assad share the democratic principles that we hope take hold across the Arab World.