By Rami G. Khouri The Daily Star

The continuing deterioration of the political situation in Syria led the emir of Qatar to suggest last week that it would be appropriate to send in Arab troops to stop the killing. How seriously he meant this suggestion remains unclear. He may have offered this as a practical proposal, or merely was sending a political message that the Arab world could not wait forever as Syrians are killed by the dozen every day.

The Arab League will meet in Cairo this weekend to assess its month-long mission of monitors whose presence in Syria has not slowed down the killing. Whether the league tinkers with its strategy and tries to enhance the efficacy of the monitors, or gives up and refers the Syrian situation to the United Nations Security Council, makes little difference for the moment. For in both cases the bigger issue that looms is the question of whether or not to send in foreign troops or take other measures to stop the deaths in Syria.

This is really two separate questions: Is it realistic and desirable to have foreign troops involved in Syria? The Syrian National Council (SNC), a consortium of opposition groups, is calling on Arab and foreign governments to start thinking of creating a safe haven along Syria’s northern and southern borders, or even designated “cities of refuge,” where Syrian government troops cannot attack citizens. This would not be feasible without the direct participation of foreign troops, mostly from the air enforcing a no-fly zone, for starters. There is no consensus now among the Arab countries for doing this, and such a consensus seems an absolute prerequisite for any such move to be seriously considered.

Syrian opposition figures speak of the experiences in Kosovo and Bosnia in recent decades, when foreign troops protected local civilians, as precedents that could be emulated in Syria. Foreign- or Arab-enforced safe havens along the borders would allow many more troops or civilian officials to defect from their current positions and join the opposition, which would hasten the fall of the regime. Combined with this would be a series of political and diplomatic gestures that Arab and foreign governments could make, including holding regular working meetings with the SNC and ultimately recognizing it formally as the official representative of the Syrian people, a sort of government-in-exile.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Jan-21/160634-syria-looks-more-like-libya-every-day.ashx#ixzz1k5kmck2U
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)