Barak Barfi is a Research Fellow at the New America Foundation, where he specializes in Arab and Islamic affairs. He recently returned from Aleppo. Barak writes often for publications including The International Herald Tribune, The New Republic, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy and The Atlantic, and is a regular guest on CNN, Fox News Channel, France 24 and other international networks. He is based between the U.S. and the Middle East. https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/contributor/barak-barfi/rss en Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000 Barak Barfi https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/05/10/why-syria-is-not-libya https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/community/2013/05/10/why-syria-is-not-libya The assessment of Western intelligence agencies that Syria used chemical weapons against opposition rebels has placed the U.S. in a quandary. After President Barack Obama announced in August “that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized,” Washington needs to back up its threat with actions to maintain its credibility.