Don't worsen Syria crisis

Two years on and the crisis in Syria has evolved into a huge humanitarian disaster and brought the country to the verge of collapse. The spillovers from the crisis are drawing increasing concern from the region and beyond. On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council underscored its grave concern about arms trafficking and repeated weapons fire across the Lebanon-Syria border. The world should guard against the big power manipulation that is turning the crisis into a proxy war.

France and Britain have been trying to persuade their European partners to lift an arms embargo so they can supply weapons to Syria's rebels. They failed to gain the support of the rest of Europe during the European Union's weekend meeting, but with the backing of the Untied States the two powers have hinted they will go ahead anyway.

Earlier this month, Washington pledged direct aid to the political opposition in Syria for the first time. This included food and medical supplies and providing an extra $60 million in nonlethal assistance. Its European allies have apparently got the message and are eager to beef up their support to the rebels in Syria so that the opposition can depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad quicker.