Outsiders have no tool to fix Syria

Latest violence, though tragic, doesn’t directly threaten USA.

The desire to “do something” in Syria is understandable. But the truth is that not even the United States can solve Syria’s problems.

The deeply dysfunctional Syrian state is not something outsiders have the tools to repair. Cruise missiles launched from ships and submarines won’t persuade the divided Syrian opposition to unite around a common goal, nor are they likely to cause President Bashar Assad’s supporters to capitulate and throw in their lot with the rebels.

But such strikes will result in additional death and destruction on the ground. The violence will end only when the warring factions within Syria tire of the struggle and are willing to compromise for peace. That is unlikely to happen any time soon, with or without U.S. involvement.

The American public remains strongly opposed to military intervention of any type, even if it is proven that Assad has used chemical weapons. To be sure, this reflects war weariness after Iraq and Afghanistan. But that wariness is also a hard-earned lesson of those wars: The violence within Syria, while tragic, does not directly threaten U.S. national security.

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