Frederic C. Hof and Faysal Itani write: If this agreement can spare Syrian civilians from continued mass murder it will be good in and of itself. There are however good reasons to believe the gains will be limited or temporary, judging from the regime’s track record during the previous cessation of hostilities and the lack of any enforcement mechanism. – Atlantic Council
Michael Singh writes: Russia, on the other hand, has taken the more effective, if brutal, approach of backing its diplomacy with limited force to worsen U.S. options. If this dynamic continues, the most likely outcomes are a deal that further compromises the U.S. position in Syria or no deal at all. If President Obama hopes to change that, John Kerry needs an “or else” to deliver to Moscow. – WSJ’s Washington Wire
A suspected chlorine gas attack on an opposition-held neighborhood in the Syrian city of Aleppo caused dozens of cases of suffocation on Tuesday, rescue workers and a monitoring group said. –Reuters