Another Marine colonel: Time to get NATO more active on the Syrian situation

By Butch Bracknell

Best Defense office of Syrian intervention

The Syrian regime is struggling to contain yet another
manifestation of the Arab Spring with brutality and inhumanity unparalleled
since the freedom phenomenon began in Tunisia last April. The international media has documented the
slaughter of thousands of rebels and protected civilians, waging war
indiscriminately and through inhumane and unlawful means against internal populations
whose crime against the regime is a desire for freedom from
authoritarianism. Tens of thousands of
refugees and displaced persons have streamed across the borders into Turkey,
Lebanon, and Jordan, and humanitarian catastrophe lurks, with a threat to
victimize tens of thousands and spill across Syria's borders regionally. America's NATO ally Turkey has, of course,
shouldered the brunt of the load because it represents a safe haven with the
most regional capacity to absorb the huddled masses escaping the fire of war.

America, of course, will not occasion the possibility of
armed intervention at this stage of the presidential and congressional election
cycle. Moreover, even after November,
the U.N. Security Council assuredly will not authorize action in Syria after
the Libyan debacle. The Russians believe
they were duped into authorizing intervention into Libya, and subscribe to the
"Fool me once..." school of international affairs. Absent an American or NATO embracing of the
controversial Responsibility to Protect doctrine to authorize an armed
intervention in Syria, the alliance's hands are tied at present. 

Even so, inaction is not justified in light of the
suffering. The current state of western
unpopularity in the Arab world, manifesting itself in worldwide protests, is
not likely to improve if America and her allies are seen to stand idly by and
do nothing as Arab innocents die in the streets of Aleppo, even if their deaths
are at the hands of other Arabs. So what
can the alliance do? Find a middle way.

One possible first step toward NATO taking decisive action
in this crisis is to ask Turkey for permission to set up a command and control
structure in Turkey aboard an American or Turkish airbase. The task force's initial mission set should
extend to intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance of the conflict in
Syria, and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief. Bringing NATO resources to bear by
constructing and maintaining refugee camps in Turkey and protecting the
refugees for the duration of the Syrian conflict will be seen as a signal of
the alliance's resolve and usefulness, and will refocus the world's attention
on the atrocities in Syria, heightening pressure on Assad to resolve the
conflict and seek reconciliation, or to resign in disgrace.

Second, providing humanitarian relief will speak volumes to
the Arab world about Western values of compassion and our collective obligation
to humanity. Moreover, standing up NATO
capabilities at Turkey's request would reinforce NATO's resolve to act
collectively and to support a member state that doubtless would be receptive to
the alliance's help.

Finally, having a command and control structure in place
would be useful if conditions in Syria evolve to the point that armed
intervention to stop the slaughter becomes viable and unavoidable. Eventually, Russia may feel the pressure to
abstain from a Security Council vote authorizing intervention, rather than risk
cementing its reputation as an obstructionist state to the international order
or appearing impotent and irrelevant. Even
absent an explicit Security Council authorization, Western allies may, in fact,
embrace the moral obligation to intervene summarized by the Responsibility to
Protect doctrine.

Armed intervention in Syria is not unavoidable, but inaction
by NATO should be. There are many
competencies the alliance can operationalize to mitigate human suffering in the
region which could provide a foothold capability as mission sets evolve. Finally, NATO's action to mitigate Arab
suffering in Syria could help tamp down the fury against the West and send
productive communicative ripples through the Arab world. As many commentators have observed, NATO's
future relies on its ability to actually accomplish missions that add value to
the sum total of international security. Skeptical voters in cash-strapped Western
democracies rightly should require return on their investment. If the alliance neglects to act in
circumstances where turning a blind eye constitutes organizational failure,
eventually it may fail to exist. 

Butch Bracknell is
a Marine lieutenant colonel on active duty and former international security
fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States. The opinions expressed
herein are personal to the author and do not represent the position of the
United States government or of Red Sox ownership.