If we continue to delay military action, we will have to intervene with greater force when the carnage spreads to Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq. Indeed, Lebanon, following the collapse of Najib Mikati’s government, is already on the brink of civil war, as direct intervention in Syria by Hezbollah, Iran’s Lebanese proxy, to prevent Assad’s overthrow has exacerbated the country’s own longstanding sectarian tensions.