Who is a moderate?

President Barack Obama made clear his stand on foreign policy on Wednesday, stressing his counterterrorism strategy, of more interest to us in the region where Syria is concerned.

Speaking to graduating cadets at the US military academy West Point, the US president said he would “work with Congress to ramp up support to those in the Syrian opposition who offer the best alternative to terrorists and a brutal dictator”.

That would involve arming and training moderate rebel groups that could serve as a counterweight to radical Islamist groupings, not an easy endeavour considering the blurred lines among the groups of rebels — of all stripes and persuasions — fighting in Syria.

Obama has been consistent in calling Syrian President Bashar Assad a “brutal dictator” and his explicit focus on helping moderate groups is a step forward, but will it help?

Is it too little too late, is it going to morally help the so-called “moderates”, or is it a move that actually makes the US an ally of those fighting Al Qaeda and its multiplying offshoots, including the regime?

Analysts may have a hard time figuring this out. One thing is clear, though. The support being considered for the opposition in Syria is critical.

Only by improving the firepower of certain groups in Syria is there a chance to counterbalance the government forces, which are making constant gains.

But identifying these groups is difficult, and there is always fear that aid, particularly weapons, could fall in the wrong hands, and that will only worsen an already terrible situation.

That Obama wants to show more resolve on Syria is laudable. How his administration will go about it is anybody’s guess.

The only tenable way out for Syria is a political solution, one that holds all those who committed crimes against the Syrian people accountable, that heals the wounds of war and that sees the country maintain its territorial integrity and regain its once prominent place in the Arab world.