Saving Syria requires Russia’s cooperation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/saving-syria-requires-russias-cooperation/2012/01/30/gIQA40fYdQ_story.html

For now, there is little sign that Russia will yield: The government of Vladi­mir Putin is insisting that it will not support the removal of a regime that has been its primary ally in the Middle East. Yet if sustained, Moscow’s intransigence is likely to precipitate a disaster, both for Syria and for itself.

It is time like this when our rhetoric on the Georgian Crisis in 2008 and running NATO to the borders of Russia itself may cost us. Russia feels cornered but also feels she is back on her feet after the disaster of the 1990s when she became a Second World country. Here is a single client state that will fiercely support Russia, if for no other reason than all its other allies are weak or crumbling themselves, and will accept Russian help no matter what it is.

Syria's regime is going to have Russia's support under almost any circumstances and the UN is not going to have much of a role in the Syrian transition. It's as simple as that.