Lebanon at Risk as Syrian Conflict Widens

The dilemma Syria’s regime faces is to choose between the Arab League initiative creating favorable conditions for dialogue with its opponents and internationalization of the crisis – with the risk of military intervention similar to that in Libya.

President Bashar Assad anticipated such a critical choice by warning recently in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that a Western attack on his country would cause an “earthquake” that would “burn” the entire region and create another Afghanistan or tens of Afghanistans. Assad also dismissed the Syrian opposition as unrepresentative and undeserving of his attention.