Daniel Serwer proposes a list of nine alternative options the international community could use to end the violence. His takeaway:
Splits in the opposition, including a Kurdish walkout, will give [Bashar al Assad] renewed confidence. But the Syrian regime is on the economic ropes and will not be able to eliminate a resistance that is now widespread and broadly (but not universally) supported by the population. We need to hang tough for the long haul, as we did in Burma, making sure time is not on Bashar al Assad’s side.
David Blair worries that the opposition's heavy use of social media is increasingly self-defeating:
Assad’s security men can identify their enemies simply by hacking their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Once compromised, these will obligingly yield reams of conveniently listed “friends” and “followers”. Worse, the activists will probably have no idea what has happened, allowing Syrian intelligence to learn all about what they are doing, before choosing the moment to strike. And social media can also be turned against its users, with the creation of fake activists, stolen identities, lies and disinformation.
(Photo: Syria refugees watch the border from Oncupinar Refugee Camp on April 9, 2012 in Kilis. Two other Syrians and Turkish translator were wounded near a refugee camp in the same area when shots were fired from Syria, as border tension escalated ahead of a visit by top international mediator Kofi Annan. 'There are too many wounded, we brought only as many as we could,' said one of the people from the group that carried the wounded into Turkey. By IHA/AFP/Getty Images.)
The Dish 
