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Time for Assad to Go
(USA Today) Dennis B. Ross - For reasons of morality and the interest of not seeing violence in Syria build and expand outward, it is essential to try to accelerate the departure of Bashar Assad. First, it is necessary to keep the pressure on the Russians to change their posture. Propping up Assad might preserve the Russian position in Syria for the time being, but no successor leadership in Syria is going to want ties to the Russians unless they change course and are able to take credit for producing the end of the Assad regime. Assad and those who support him see the Russians as their insurance policy. Change that perception, and the balance of power is likely to shift inside Syria. It is also necessary to reach out to the Alawite community that makes up 12% of the Syrian population but represents the backbone of the security establishment. It is essential to find ways of communicating with key Alawites and making clear that Assad is not the key to their salvation but the greatest threat to their survival. Sanctions and isolation alone won't make Assad leave. He must see that the balance of power is shifting against him. The writer was a special assistant to President Obama and senior director of the Central Region on the National Security Council staff from 2009 to 2011.