There is little evidence to suggest that sending in our bombers or arming the rebels will ratchet down, rather than ratchet up, the violence. Remember: weapons are fungible. We have no way of preventing the al-Qaeda-affiliated members of the opposition from getting hold of bombs and bullets supplied by Britain and France. Nor does anyone have a credible plan of action for the day after Assad falls.
Who is the coward? Is it the deluded young man from an immigrant background who makes the decision to commit mayhem to help some spurious 'cause', who lobs bombs at pursuing SWAT teams and shoots from his hidey-hole, a dry-docked boat? Or is it the technology graduate, with his home in the suburbs and his federal pension, whose greatest risk is the long drive home?
Thirteen British newspapers led with the Boston bombings the following day, which occurred not only on the same day as the Iraq attacks, but also on the day that Syrian warplanes carried out air raids on Damascus. It would appear that the Western media portrayal of bomb attacks around the world is skewed.