Syrians Sniping at UN

    The Washington Times says a vehicle belonging to a team investigating the Syrian regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons has been “deliberately shot at multiple times” by unidentified snipers in Damascus.
    Who is surprised by that?    Let's look at it from the points of view of both the Syrian government and the rebels. Remember, they are the people who have the guns and do the shooting.    Both sides have an interest and confidence in their own operations. The government plans to defeat the rebels and vice versa. Neither side would like interference from outsiders, unless it can be assured that the interference would be favorable to its side. Since it is not absolutely clear that UN presence would favor one side or the other, each side would likely feel threatened by UN presence. The best way to get the UN out is to use snipers, which then cannot be identified as a specific side.
    The only way the UN could not be attacked locally is for both the government and rebels to have decided they are tired of the whole mess and wish to call a draw. At that point the UN would be welcome.