QUAGMIRE

Syria Warns U.S.: Don’t Get Involved

Americans strongly oppose intervention.

Days after an alleged deadly nerve gas attack in Syria, the government of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday warned the U.S. not to intervene, claiming that the rebels were behind the poisonous gas attack that left hundreds dead. Further, the Syrian government warned that an intervention would end any tenuous peace in the Middle East. Violence from the bloody two-year civil war has already spilled over into Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Israel-occupied Golan Heights—and Syria is allied with Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Palestinian militant groups. Meanwhile, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 60 percent of Americans think the U.S. should not intervene in Syria, with just nine percent supporting action. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, speaking in Kuala Lumpur, refused to speculate on what action the U.S. would take.