Ian Black, Middle East editor
The Guardian,
It has taken a long time for the US to confirm that Barack Obama's famous "red line" in Syria has in fact been crossed – but it is still unclear whether the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad's regime will lead to a significant shift in American and western policy.
News that the administration is to increase its "non-lethal assistance" to Syria's civilian opposition is simply more of the same in terms of what the US, UK and France have already been doing for months as Assad's forces have gained the upper hand on the ground......
In addition to the rising human cost of the war, there is mounting international alarm at the instability and violence now affecting all of Syria's neighbours. The increasingly open role of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah is a factor of grave concern. Its fighters helped Syrian forces win back the town of Qusair near Homs last week and they may be in action again in a looming offensive against rebel-held parts of Aleppo.
US and western policy, meanwhile, still looks as cautious and stumbling as it has been at any time since the Syrian tragedy began."
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