We are treated to daily pictures of Syrian troops massacring women and children in the most brutal fashion, while some world powers wring their hands and others turn a blind eye. There is a compelling humanitarian case to stop the slaughter. But in so doing, there is also a rare geopolitical opportunity to rearrange the pieces on the Middle East chessboard and take Syria out of the pro-Iranian camp. 

Flipping Syria isn't a new idea. The NeoCons advocate regime change Bush style - arm the rebels and send in the Marines, despite it not having worked so well in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

The liberal left clings to the hope that a little more diplomacy might convince the Bashir al-Assad to a change.

The former is impractical and the latter is naïve; and they're both unrealistic. After months of slaughter, we still don't know who the rebels are, and there is no "rebel army." Unlike Libya, there have been few defections from the Syria's armed forces that could build a rebel army.