At the risk of alienating some of my readership, I am posting the below on a subject I feel too strongly about to ignore.
I
find it fascinating and depressing that the international community
remains largely quiet on the Syrian debacle vis a vis that regime's use
of chemical weapons against civilians and in particular, children. It
voiced various degrees of outrage or support for the ill-advised
criminal Iraq war perpetrated by the recidivist Bush regime but with
clear evidence of inhumanity alive and well in Syria, well
deserving of punitive military response, the world wishes to remain
silent or, worse, like the UK, inactive and Neville Chamberlain-like
passive. Only the United States is contemplating decisive action
against the death merchant, Assad, and his evil retinue of murderers.
Obama should exhibit no hesitation in committing U.S. forces to pounding
the hell out of Assad and his minions; that should be the measure of
U.S. resolve, and the longer we wait on such action, the more the
salient message reverberates: My name is Assad and I can murder people
with impunity. Go f__ yourself, world, and particularly you, America.
Let not wickedness triumph, Mr. President. Attack now. Unlike Bush, show
the world you risk war for moral and decent reasons outside of political
and territorial expansionist interests.
I quite understand the UK in one way inasmuch as their resources have been over-extended in both the Iraq and Afghan theaters; people are simply tired of fighting an enemy which is consistently horrendous in terms of civilized behavior (or lack thereof). War has taken toll on the democratic peoples of the world and folks are weary. But now is not the time to shy away from a clear, egregious example of virtual genocide, perpetrated by a regime clearly lacking in any moral foundation and contrary to all rules of not only war, but the basic precepts of decency and humanity.
It is my prediction that President Obama will not wait long to hit Assad hard. The question is will the President's characterization of 'hard' deter Assad from further acts of murderous euthanasia against the Syrian people? He has stated that the U.S. is not interested in a 'regime change' - by which he means to say he plans to allow Assad to continue living and holding sway over a defenseless population - and that he has no interest in committing America or its allies to another protracted debacle in the Middle East and beyond, such has been seen in the Iraq imbroglio and the Afghan landscape. So that leaves the 'surgical' alternative: carefully calculated attacks on targets in Damascus designed to deter further weapons offensives and to demoralize the Syrian leadership sufficient to arrest Assad's homicidal acts against the native population.
Will it be enough? At this stage of this ominous game, we can only wait and see. But if action is not taken, America's message to the world as the only remaining superpower is: weapons of mass destruction and their utilization by outlaw regimes and/or governments will be tolerated ... because we're all so tired of fighting for the right thing.
And that, dear friends, would be the most tragic thing of all. For it was once said by a poet or some philosopher that evil prevails when good men stand by and decide to do nothing about it....
I would like to believe this is not the tacit mandate for the United States of America. Because, after all - and this is no joke - we're the good guys. We must act as such, then goodness will continue to be blessed upon us.
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