Stepping Assad.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)

Foreign Affairs: Syria, long a troublemaker, is next in line for transformation to a representative government in the Middle East. Right on the edge, it needs only a firm yet unmistakable nudge in that direction.

The unraveling of Bashar Assad's already tattered regime accelerated when former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated in a Feb. 14 car bombing that also killed 22 others. It didn't take long for the world to suspect Damascus -- Hariri was one of the more vocal critics of Syria's 29-year occupation of Lebanon -- and the pressure started to build.

Nine months later, it's almost unbearable for Assad.

Through its Security Council, the United Nations -- United Nations! -- is taking an uncharacteristically hard line. A resolution adopted at the strong urging of the U.S., Britain and France -- France! -- demands that Damascus cooperate more fully with the U.N.'s investigation of Hariri's death.

The resolution also requires Syria to accommodate an intensely intrusive and militarily enforceable international probe. The Security Council, moreover, has the power to impose a travel ban and to freeze assets of anyone who is suspected of being a part of the Hariri assassination.

Of course, the Assad regime denies any involvement. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, almost in a shoe-banging fit, has gone before the Security Council to ...