Cornell professor David Siddhartha Patel teaches comparative politics with a focus on Middle Eastern politics, Islamic institutions, and political culture.
He's been watching the violence in Syria unfold and doesn't see it letting up any time soon.
“The bloodshed is Syria is likely to get worse – perhaps much worse – in the coming weeks and months, and there is little the United States or the wider international community can do to prevent it," Patel said in a press release. "We are watching the beginning of a protracted and bloody civil war in Syria that will likely last several years.
Patel notes that the Syrian opposition has not been able to unify protesters and the various rebel groups, and thus has not been able to reach a consensus on how to respond to the escalating violence on civilians.
Knowing this, Bashar al-Assad's regime has been able to employ loyal elements of the Syrian military to shell cities as well as "brutal irregular militias" such as the Shabia while leaving fractured rebel groups to control isolated pockets of the country.
“Almost any intervention by the U.S. would eventually demand “boots on the ground” in Syria, and the situation on that ground would look more like Iraq did in 2007 than Libya did in 2011.”
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