The United States needs to do more to protect civilians in Syria, including considering setting up safe zones inside Syria and potentially arming the opposition, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry (D-MA) said Tuesday, May 8, Foreign Policy reported. He cautioned that the United States should insist on greater unity within opposition ranks before it provides lethal aid . Safe zones within Syria would have to be defended by some foreign military force, but not necessary the United States or NATO, Kerry explained. Kerry also warned that if the balance of power is not tilted in Syria in the opposition’s favor, it’s unlikely that President Bashar Assad will step down. A political transition that sees Assad removed from power remains the goal, he said, but the United States must step up its efforts to make that goal a reality.