With the hypocritical talks of eliminating weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and protecting civilians in Libya still ringing in the ears, such „red line“ threats seem to have almost become a signal for the United States and some of its Western allies to sharpen their weapons before exercising interventionism.

The world should stay vigilant that these dangerously irresponsible remarks would do nothing but effectively escalate the current bloody situation in Syria and gravely tarnish the prospects of settling Syria‘s 17-month-old crisis through political means.