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Source: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/stand_up_on_syria_zNrFtmXBt3rHzH8qkmV8SI
Stand Up on Syria: How to Help without Invading
(New York Post)- Amir Taheri- With the Annan "peace plan" all but acknowledged to be a failure, a new diplomatic game is shaping up around Syria: "waiting for Russia," as Western leaders hope Moscow will persuade Assad to accept a peaceful transition. The trouble is that the Western democracies' perceived weakness is producing the opposite effect - encouraging Russia to intensify its efforts to keep Assad in power. While Moscow and Tehran might well back Assad as long as they think he has an even chance of survival, neither would want to get involved in an endless war so that Assad can carve himself a mini-state on the Mediterranean.