Syria Opinion: The Assad Regime Cannot End this Crisis

CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Homs, where French journalist Gilles Jacquier was killed on Wednesday.

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Ten months after the beginning of the conflict in Syria, not much is clear. The evidence shows, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the majority of protests in Syria remain peaceful. We also know, beyond a reasonable doubt, that many of these protests are attacked by President Assad's loyalists, military, and police. And we know that people die because of this every single day.

On Wednesday, one of those who was killed was France 2 TV's Gilles Jacquier, who made a career of reporting from war-torn regions of the world (see EA's tribute to Jacquier's work).

The debate about how he died, and who is responsible, will draw international attention. It should. But ultimately who is responsible, and which side is lying about the event, may never be known.

A lot of people die in Syria, and each one of them merits this kind of scrutiny, but the lack of freedom of the press in Syria makes it impossible to know, beyond a reasonable doubt, who is responsible for each case, for each personal tragedy. The regime blames terrorists, armed gangs, and outside influences seeking to thwart the stability that it provides. The opposition blames the regime, accusing it of killing dissenters to spread fear in an effort to maintain its control.

In the end, perhaps only one thing is clear and beyond dispute.

Everyone in Syria is suffering. More than 6000 are dead, defectors are now fighting daily battles with the Syrian army, the protests continue, the gunfire continues, the sanctions continue, inflation continues, the lack of fuel and the rolling blackouts get worse, the lines for basic supplies grow long, and explosions rock even the safest of neighbourhoods in Damascus.

What is also beyond dispute is that the Assad regime has lost control of the country. At best, it is no longer capable of defending its citizens, and even its state-sponsored tours by foreign journalists, from attack. At worst, the regime is responsible for planting one of several bombs in the capital, is guilty of killing Gilles Jacquier to frame "terrorists", and is carrying out killings, widespread arrests, torture, and kidnapping campaigns to beat the opposition into submission.

Either way, the government of Syria has failed its people, proving incapable of restoring order. And so far, evidence points to the worst-case scenario more often than it points to the best.

If the Syrian government is incapable of ending this crisis, who is capable, and are they willing to take that responsibility?