It takes , seemingly, an outside perspective to tell us what is happening in the West. The regime change programme had already failed. The US chiefs-of staff didn’t like the proposed no-fly-zone or the Banghazi-style safe havens. Now the Benghazi style has become very unfashionable overnight. The problem for the US is that “you can’t retreat” and especially you can’t retreat leaving your NATO allies, France and Turkey, twisting in the wind. The US has to abandon its Al Qaeda and Salafists allies in Syria without endangering the unity of NATO. The Benghazi attack gives them the pretext to do that and the allies will understand that there is no choice. Already the arch-hawk Fabius, French foreign secretary, is reduced to only calling for more sanctions against Assad. At the same time rotation is likely with Obama and left  going down with the ship of regime change and the way opening up to a Romney presidency and whatever that might bring.

Telegraph India

13th September, 2012

Washington, Sept. 13: The fatal attack on the American ambassador to Libya and three other US personnel at their consulate in Benghazi has had the immediate result of ending the prospect of any western military effort to change the regime in Syria in the foreseeable future.

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