The US, its allies and Russia could best help the Syrian people by stepping up genuine humanitarian assistance in response to the refugee crisis, coming clean about their real intentions in the wider region, ceasing arms sales and engaging in a genuine peace process, argues Jim Roche. 

THE UN is in danger of becoming as irrelevant and ineffectual as the League of Nations that preceded it — able to condemn atrocities but not halt them. The chemical attack in Syria, most likely by government forces, is the most recent example.