The case for a no-fly zone in Syria

By Samuel Burke, CNN

Britain’s former foreign secretary admits that though a major intervention in Syria is not a possibility for the West, a case could be made for a NATO-enforced no-fly zone.

“Although Syrian air defenses are strong, they're not strong enough to overcome those of the United States and NATO,” Jack Straw told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour Wednesday.

Straw served for 13 years in top cabinet positions under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and played in key role in setting the West’s agenda in Afghanistan, Iran and other parts of the Middle East. His new memoir is called “Last Man Standing: Memoirs of a Political Survivor." 

Iraq and its role in Syria

Straw said he was in Turkey last week and spoke with senior ministers in the Turkish administration.

“They don't believe that there is much more they can do to manage or to intervene for the moment to stop the killing,” he said. But Straw believes that because Syria is a majority Sunni country, after a prolonged period the U.K. will find that it has influence in a “new country.”

Iran: “Profound errors”

In September of 2011, Straw was the first British foreign secretary to go to Iran since its revolution in 1979.

Straw rejected the notion put forth by Governor Romney in Tuesday’s U.S. Presidential debate that Iran has come four years closer to building a nuclear weapon on Obama’s watch.

“I doubt that they are,” he said. “They certainly improved their capacity to enrich uranium, but still not, from the best evidence, to weapons grade.”

“The evidence from the International Atomic Energy authority was that Iran had actually stopped its active program for making full-scale nuclear weapons capability in 2003 as a result of the negotiations with which I was involved, together with the then French and German foreign ministers.”

Straw strongly supports the economic sanctions, and he believes they’re working. “The currency in Iran has had to devalue by very significant percentage. There is rampant inflation. There is trouble on the streets.”

He thinks the U.S. and the E.U should continue down this path.

“I think you keep the squeeze up in economic terms, but you certainly do not contemplate military action.”

Straw said Iran is a very difficult country to deal for “historical and cultural reasons,” but he also said there were “profound errors” by President George W. Bush, which put the West in the position it is today.

Mainly, he said, Bush undermined the more moderate regime of Iranian President Khatami.

“Americans can influence what happens in Iran, not only for the good but also for bad. Shortly after President Khatami of Iran had reached out to the West and said he wanted to be an ally of the West against al-Qaeda; and then saying that Iran was part of the axis of evil pulled the rug from underneath the moderates.”

Straw believes this resulted in the beginnings of “a very authorization regime there;” and accounts for how a hard-liner like Ahmadinejad ended up winning office.

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