Not only will more intervention by the western powers increase the death toll, it may not give them the control they crave either.

Patrick Cockburn says the situation in areas of Syria he has visited is wholly different from the picture given to the world both by foreign leaders and by the foreign media.

The intention of the British, US and French governments is clear: to use the fears about chemical weapons to move from secret intervention to no fly zones, air strikes and possible incursions.

The question is: Will military intervention take place end of this year? Or will it wait for a declaration of war against Iran in the coming spring at the most?

All the usual pseudo-experts who couldn't find Syria on a map have been warning us again of the mustard gas, chemical agents, biological agents that Syria might possess – and might use.

Propagandizing on behalf of the US government by the loyal legion of stenographers in the elite American media has allowed the Obama administration to renew its threat of military intervention.

What is happening to the Kurdish population in Syria? Analysis from the Kurdish Federation UK.

It has been clear for some months that the US election would mark a turning point and that its almost certain outcome, whoever won, would be an escalation of western intervention in the country.

Jonathan Freedland's bizarre sense of priorities leads him to attack peace campaigners, rather than warmongers carrying out drone attacks in Pakistan, or bombing children in Afghanistan.

Tariq Ali says opposing Assad should not lead to backing a Western intervention and an imposed regime on the Libyan model with a quick-fix election as a PR fig-leaf.

Bashar al-Assad's government faces a resourceful, well-armed and ruthless enemy whose Islamist supporters are receiving help from the West, says Robert Fisk.

No one who has followed the history of Afghanistan or Iraq will be surprised at the West's allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar supplying weapons to the sectarians in the Syrian opposition.

Syria has become the crucible for a number of separate wars, battles for power and influence, for regional resources and access, for strategic location and military expansion.

The sharp increase in arms supplies, funding and technical support from the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and others has dramatically boosted the rebels' fortunes, as well as the death toll.

The US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have established a secret base near the Syrian border to help direct vital military and communications support to Assad's opponents.

Those who want NATO to intervene "humanely" in Syria often say that Syria will not be like Iraq. They are right: it would be much worse, and could also be the prelude for war on Iran.