It's not a question of letting Assad off the hook. He's not on the hook. He,s carrying out a vicious campaign, in which enormous numbers of innocent civilians are being killed, in the same way as the British did in the last war, the Americans did in Vietnam and both have done in Iraq.

There are any number of people I'd love to see on trial for war crimes - but acting realistically to end the war in Syria has to be the priority, and if that means accepting that Assad is not giing to be put on trial at this time,, that's what has to be done.

It may indeed be true that the opposition includes freedom-loving, democracy-minded anti-sectarians. But it also includes some who are none of those things. The news today carried images of civilian women and children Alawites in metal cages being taken through the streets to be used as human shields in rebel held areas. And that wasn't in Isis controlled tterritory.