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Why the World Can't Stop the Killing in Syria
(Der Spiegel-Germany) Ullrich Fichtner - There is no end in sight to the murdering in Syria. Russia alone has the power to topple the regime and avert a civil war, but is refusing to do so because it wants to protect its interests in the region. Since there will be no military intervention led by the UN, NATO or the West against the Syrian regime, the West must persuade Vladimir Putin to change his mind. Former ambassadors to the region are certain that Assad would fall immediately if Russia withdrew its support for him. Assad's victims are being killed with Russian weapons, Russian military equipment and Russian ammunition. And the freighters that bring the material to Syria are still sailing. Russia maintains its only naval base in the Mediterranean at the Syrian port of Tartus. The talk of the importance of an "ice-free" port for Russia may sound like a murmur from distant days, but this interest, strategically pursued for decades in the Soviet era, remains extremely important for modern-day Russia.