Baird says Canada cannot allow Syria to act with impunity

Sure it can.

We can't allow Baird to run his mouth with impunity either.

So what are we going to do about it besides wag our finger?

I fully agree with him - nations that commit atrocities (against their own citizens or others) need to be punished. Let's just make sure this actually happened and this isn't another 'Niger Yellow Cake' load of BS like Iraq was.

Then we do it exactly what we did in Libya (use airpower and not troops).

Pretty much, the rebels in Syria are still a hell of a lot better than a dictator and unlike in Egypt they have had the time to organize enough that the MB won't be able to win an election because they are the only organized party. Bring them real democracy and they will figure the rest out.

From what I have been reading the rebels, who have strong ties to fundamentalist Islamic terrorism, are not interested in a democratic Syria. Say we do help the terrorist/freedom fighters win a civil war, then what?

There's a split, the powerful ones are tied to Islamic powers only because that's the only way to get money and weapons. If you want western rebels you need to give them a reason to join your side, not expect them to join your side when you promise slingshots while the other guy is giving RPGs.

Exactly. There's a bunch of different rebel groups and a good chunk of them are Al-Qaeda wannabes. There's no good guys/bad guys in this. Only varying degrees of bad. Which is exactly why we need to stay far away from mess.

Even if you plant rebels who support the west into power, you still have the Al-Qaeda rebels in the wings ready to continue the fight. The only thing I think we should do is help the neighbors of Syria, who have been flooded with refugees. Wait until the dust settles, then we open diplomacy with the winner.

Al-Qaeda only have power as long as the locals let them have it, show them they have more to gain from working peacefully with the west than fighting and support will dry up. Easy to fight terror when shepherds and civilians start reporting suspicious movement on a regular basis.

Because that worked wonderfully well in Afghanistan.

Had no support in Afghanistan, worked a lot better in Libya where they are a hell of a lot more appreciative of the west. This would be the same thing, supporting the rebels because they wanted it without ever setting foot on land.

Syria has never had great relations with the West, Russia has been their partner for over 40 years, I say let the Russians take this one.

Syria's government hasn't, the people are another matter.