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Source: http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/08/27/assad-still-winning-where-it-counts-most/?utm_
Assad Still Winning Where It Counts Most
(American Interest) Walter Russell Mead - Although Assad's control of Damascus is clearly under stress, the Syrian government continues to hold the line against efforts by protesters to overwhelm regime forces in the capital. The chances of a Libya-style UN resolution and Western intervention appear slim. Paradoxically, the intervention in Libya meant more deaths in Syria. The Western intervention and the Gaddafi defeat encouraged Syrian protesters to risk their lives, provided an unmistakable message to Assad and his cronies that their alternatives are victory or jail if not death, and exhausted the West and the Arab League's political will to intervene.