The West's support for rebels only serves to escalate the Syrian crisis, said an article in 21st Century Business Herald (excerpts below).

The Syrian civil war has raged for more than two years and claimed the lives of 90,000 people. But it shows no sign of abating and accusations of chemical weapons make it harder to resolve.

If Western countries give more support to the rebels, they are just escalating the war and turning it into a regional crisis.

The only rational choice is to follow the international community's consensus that the Syrian crisis can only be solved through political means. It is easy for some Western countries to rush to arming the rebels and escalating the war. If only they found it as easy to end it.