ABSTRACT
Hillary Clinton made the most detailed and carefully worded recommendation regarding no fly zones. No fly zones played no role in alleviating the suffering in Syria or in responding to Assad’s brutalities or in moderation of the creation of refugees. The no fly zone option was quite highly regarded after the experience in Libya, but only briefly. The outcome in Libya cast no fly zones in a new light. The no fly zone operations in Iraq and Bosnia had been criticized for being ineffective, but they had never been blamed for producing chaos and violence. Operation Unified Protector opened the way to chaos and suffering for the people it had been designed to help. The Save Darfur movement was the concrete expression and case in point for the Responsibility to Protect principle that was promulgated and adopted by a unanimous vote at a UN special summit in 2005. The Bush administration was extremely reluctant to intervene, especially with ground troops, but the pressure “not to do nothing” was significant.
