David Siddhartha Patel is a professor of government at Cornell University whose research focuses on politics in the Middle Eastern politics, as well as Islamic institutions and the political culture of the region. Patel has conducted research in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt and Lebanon. He comments on the increasing controversy surrounding international intervention in the escalating civil war in Syria.
Patel says:
“As President Obama decides how to respond to the Syrian regime’s alleged crossing of his ‘red line’ on the use of chemical weapons, it is important to remember that international intervention in the Syrian civil war has been occurring for more than a year.
“Iran has been providing the Asad regime with money, military supplies and probably military operatives, and Hezbollah now acknowledges it has forces in Syria and is reportedly training a Shiite-Alawi militia. On the rebel side, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are supporting various factions, occasionally in a coordinated manner but more often separately.
“This is a bad situation that will only get worse in the coming months, regardless of how Israel, the U.S. and European powers choose to involve themselves.”
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