I'm not sure what anyone can do. War is a dirty business, and whoever takes action, people are going to die, that's the nature of the beast. The Arab League won't take any action, Russia is supporting Assad, and arming him, Russia, and China will veto any UN resolution, which leaves the world unable to act. Should the UN manage to pass a resolution, which I think highly improbable, the UK should definitely stay out of it, there are other countries closer to the problem that should be tackling it. I would also say the US and UK do not want to get involved in another war, especially in the Middle East. The cost in human terms, financially, and politically, (both domestically, and internationally),are too much to bear.
As for what kind of military intervention, should this actually go ahead, a difficult question. Syria is not Iraq, and they have a capable air defence network, (though Israel managed to get through it), modern weapons, (supplied by Russia), and motivated troops. Troops on the ground with an invasion would be a very bloody affair, and almost certainly won't happen. A no fly zone enforced by manned aircraft would also be very costly. The only viable solution is using stand off weapons, like the TLAM. You may have noticed in the news recently HMS Tireless surfacing off Gibraltar. Some have commented on it being related to the dispute we're involved with Spain over Gibraltar, I suspect it's more to do with Syria, and showing Assad one of our assets.
Whatever happens, one thing that's guaranteed to happen is innocent Syrians getting killed, by one side or the other, but mainly by Assad.
Last edited by Dunky; 27th Aug 2013 at 13:55.