Blog post

Nicholas Noe in the New York Times on What to do in Syria

Michael Bacal 7 February 2012

In yesterday's New York Times, Nicholas Noe, editor of Verso's Voice of Hezbollah: The Statements of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, weighed in on the "enormous moral and strategic distaster" currently besieging Syria. Surveying the different options and the broader geopolitical implications of different responses to the crisis, he comes down especially hard against the dominant viewpoints promoting the "controlled collapse" of Assad's regime. In particular, he brings up, among other things, the critical role Iran plays in supporting Assad's rule, as the latter is one of the main conduits for Iran's backing of Hezbollah. As Noe carefully notes, any actions in Syria must factor in the possibility of a scenario in which Assad, Iran and Hezbollah use their combined force to try a "bloody last-ditch effort" to save the Syrian government.  He cautions against the danger of responses that could unwittingly exacerbate the violence in Syria, or inadvertently lead to escalated regional conflict which would potentially introduce Iran and Israel into the equation.

Visit the New York Times to read Noe's op-ed in full.

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