This is a
strange situation. The US is now rushing off to 'punish' an evil
dictator for something another evil dictator 'walked" on. As we know
Saddam Hussein blatantly gassed several hundred Kurds before
he became an 'official enemy' - and nobody did jackshit. Yet
ironically we want to 'punish' but not remove from power this
chin-less wonder, Bashir Assad. It's only harassment and "degradation of his military capability" but not defeat because if he were actually
defeated, it might mean our currently 'official enemy', the (ever
multiplying) "El Qaeda 'affiliates," might take over.
It is alarming (to me) that when the leadership of the Republican and Democratic parties finally agree on something, it's something bad - that it's a good idea to again
stick our arm into a hornet's nest. Recall that most of the recent bad decisions by Congress (Iraq War, NDAA, Patriot Act) came with this
kind of coalescence of Demo and GOP 'opponents. '
One almost needs a
color-coded interactive graphic to begin to make sense out this complex
geo-political mosaic mess. The Muslim religion is engaged in a internecine
four-way war with moderates Muslims vs. reactionary Muslims vs.
reactionary Shia vs reactionary jihadist Sunnis, and both vs. the "infidels
in the West." And the Mid East states (along with Pakistan and Afghanistan) is the main battlefield.
First you have the Syria involved in a bloody civil war with a brutal regime that may or may not have used nerve gas as a weapon. Then you have Iran, one of our current 'official
enemies' which is actively pro Assad, Next you have Iraq (now almost a failed state courtesy of a US invasion a decade ago) with its besieged Shia
government presumably pro-Assad while its bellicose terrorism-prone Sunni
opposition actively anti-Assad (and sending fighters to Syria.) , Lebanon is the home
of the Shia Hezbollah and the bane of the Israelis and who successfully forced
the Israel Defense Force out of Lebanon. Hezbollah, is now actively and effectively
helping Assad militarily. Then there is the oil-rich Gulf States
including Saudia Arabia all Sunni and actively supporting the
anti-Assad forces including the Al Qaeda factions. Ah yes, and then
there is the big bear, Russia, a long time ally of Syria going back to the Cold War
days, who is also actively supporting the Assad regime with modern weapons (and
along with China blocking any UN sanctions against Syria.)
Turkey, now run by Sunni Islamists, is actively supporting
anti-Assad forces and is constantly cajoling
the US to become more involved. On the
sidelines is the post Arab Spring Egypt, that volitile "ex-democracy”
now army-run, presumably on the side of secular anti-Assad forces but
their now persecuted democratically elected opposition, the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood one would assume would also be supportive of Sunni anti-Assad forces. Into this caldron of doom the
US under Barack Obama now wants to jump in feet first and prior to any proper independent UN
investigation of the facts. And, of course, Israel, perennial enemy of Syria and now Iran (and
everybody else in the neighborhood), quietly cheering on the US as it
wades into another dismal swamp without a compass.
As horrible a
precedent as using sarin gas is (if that's what really happened) as a
new way to 'drain the swamp' of insurgent supporters, its use should
still is not be used as an excuse for the US to get involved in yet another regional war –
or worse. It could become an assassination of Archduke Ferdinand kind of moment. There are
too may power players, too may hot headed Jihadists, too many
unknowns. Even the US military advised against getting involved
(until ordered to cooperate by their Commander and Chief) who hemmed himself in with loose talk about crossing red lines.
Moreover the US
assuming the role as global enforcer of 'proper' warfare standards seems
a bit hypocritical to say the least what with our use of drones,
cluster bombs, land mines, depleted uranium shells, white phosphorus,
napalm, Agent Orange and nuclear weapons. Just because a
given horrific weapon has not been formally designated 'illegal' does not mean
its use is not cruelly effective and as grimly horrible as other 'legal' ones.
I wish Obama would could wriggle out of this but he's committed now.
