Imagining alternatives to more war in Syria

Last month we read of yet another missile attack on Syria paid for by U.S., British, and French taxpayers as “punishment” of the Assad regime’s alleged used of chemical weapons. We could ask who made these governments judge, jury and executioners, or how this punishes a dictator safe in his palace, but a more useful question might be, if we were the majority of Syrians, what would we want from the international community?

Would it comfort us to hear that the world cares more if our child is suffocated by gas than if she is blown apart by explosives? Would we care about token punishments, or lo...