Former UN Monitor Urges ‘No-Fly Zone’ in Syria

Wants to 'Level the Playing Field' for Rebels

Norwegian General Robert Mood, the top figure in last year’s failed UN ceasefire monitoring mission, has urged Western military intervention in the Syrian civil war, imposing a “no-fly zone” across Northern Syria to help the rebels.

Mood says taking air superiority out of the hands of the Syrian government would “level the playing field,” but added that he opposes sending arms to the Syrian rebels.

NATO’s own leadership has repeatedly rejected calls to intervene directly in the civil war, though several of the nations (Britain especially) did express an eagerness to start throwing arms at the rebels.

Mood’s ceasefire monitoring mission ended fairly abruptly when the Syrian rebels announced they would no longer abide by a ceasefire brokered by Kofi Annan. The deal effectively forced Annan’s resignation and marks the last serious effort to get talks between rebels and government forces going, and the rebels now say they oppose any talks on general principle.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.