Former head of the first United Nations Observer Mission Major General Mood has said the UN is partly responsible for the suffering of Syrian people.
In an interview with RTÉ, Major General Robert Mood has said that the lack of leadership has not helped the situation.
Gen Mood said that the UN Security Council is not dealing with the Syrian crisis to avoid it spilling over into the region with potential international consequences.
He said violence on the ground was creating deep divisions and that revenge was an issue.
Mr Mood said the problems in Syria are creating deep hatred and divides in society, and as a consequence it is possible that there will be "months and months" of fighting before it is possible to enter a dialogue phase.
He said the international community now needs to focus on how it will support dialogue when that moment arrives, with the full involvement of the Syrian people
Mr Mood said rebels in Syria will have a "tough challenge for many, many months" to defeat Bashar al-Assad's army, but he added that in time the rebels will gain an upper hand.
Elsewhere, the deputy police commander for the central Syrian province of Homs has defected to Jordan.
This is viewed as further undermining President Assad as he struggles to crush an uprising against his rule.
Mr Jabawi is from Deraa, a rural province where the revolt against Mr Assad erupted 17 months ago before spreading to the rest of the country.
Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab defected to Jordan last week, the highest-ranking Syrian official to abandon Assad since the uprising began.
Homs has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the conflict.
