And we still have no specific details about what the Syrian rebels wanted or why Assad was so firm in denying  any path to whatever it is that they wanted. Neither side seems interested in democracy or entrenching  human rights, which tend to be the keys to ending conflict.

It seems impossible to imagine that this carnage and killings of hundreds of thousands of civilians is better than a few reforms. Given the extreme citizen timidiity  in non-democracies, I suspect people would have gladly settled for the simplest tokenism in terms of reforms.

What's needed now is extreme restraint against nations like the U.S. which tend to pour in with misdirected aid that is then used to fuel more conflict, such as its absurd funding of Palestinians and Israel without  sufficient ground rules to ensure peace. Until and unless entrenched human rights are guaranteed and democratic reforms are implemented, Western nations need to limit aid. Every dollar needs to be contingent upon a new deal.