It’s complicated! US involvement could quickly exacerbate further destabilization in the Middle East as the civil war in Syria is spilling over its borders into neighboring countries. We need to seriously consider the international ramifications, and remember previous misuse of intelligence “information”, as in the Iraqi WMD fiasco. The main opposition players to the Shia-led government of Bashar al- Assad are: Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas; so, do we want to help the Sunni-Muslim extremists topple the current President of Syria? This conflict is spilling over into Iraq, where violent demonstrations by Sunnis against the government of Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri-al-Maliki has occurred. Also, as Iraq and Syria share a 372 mile border, a March attack in Anbar resulted as an attempt of Syrian rebels to move the conflict to Iraq, where over 40 Syrian soldiers and government workers were killed. Lets get aid to the displaced families in neighboring countries. ************** Over a million Syrian refugees, mostly children, have fled to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The nearest countries are deeply affected. Complaints of shells landing in Israel were also heard at a recent UN meeting. The collapse of Syria would be disastrous for Lebanon and Iraq. With Russia and Iran providing military support to Bashar, and with China’s political support, the US is reluctant to intervene militarily, though they have opposed al-Assad’s rule. However, the rebels are Islamic militants with pro-al-Qaeda sentiments, and the US is considering sending them weapons, as Turkey and Qatar have. Chemical weaponry has supposedly come from Turkey to the terrorist group known as Al-Nusra. Providing arms to the jihadists would seem to be a big step in the wrong direction. We don’t need to get mired down in another Middle East battlefield, though I’m sure we will be involved in a major conflict soon with Iran, whom we cannot allow to get full nuclear capabilities. So maybe Syria is just the stepping stone to that engagement, but I agree with former Defense Secretary Weinberger’s 6 pt national security doctrine. (Look it up). The whole of the Middle East is the result of centuries of deep-seated cultural grudges and religious differences among tribal peoples, and is not easily sorted out. It’s complicated! The Arab Spring is blooming with poisonous fruit!
May 2 2013
What should US do about Syria?
It’s complicated! US involvement could quickly exacerbate further destabilization in the Middle East as the civil war in Syria is spilling over its borders into neighboring countries. We need to seriously consider the international ramifications, and remember previous misuse of intelligence “information”, as in the Iraqi WMD fiasco. The main opposition players to the Shia-led government of Bashar al- Assad are: Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas; so, do we want to help the Sunni-Muslim extremists topple the current President of Syria? This conflict is spilling over into Iraq, where violent demonstrations by Sunnis against the government of Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri-al-Maliki has occurred. Also, as Iraq and Syria share a 372 mile border, a March attack in Anbar resulted as an attempt of Syrian rebels to move the conflict to Iraq, where over 40 Syrian soldiers and government workers were killed. Lets get aid to the displaced families in neighboring countries. ************** Over a million Syrian refugees, mostly children, have fled to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The nearest countries are deeply affected. Complaints of shells landing in Israel were also heard at a recent UN meeting. The collapse of Syria would be disastrous for Lebanon and Iraq. With Russia and Iran providing military support to Bashar, and with China’s political support, the US is reluctant to intervene militarily, though they have opposed al-Assad’s rule. However, the rebels are Islamic militants with pro-al-Qaeda sentiments, and the US is considering sending them weapons, as Turkey and Qatar have. Chemical weaponry has supposedly come from Turkey to the terrorist group known as Al-Nusra. Providing arms to the jihadists would seem to be a big step in the wrong direction. We don’t need to get mired down in another Middle East battlefield, though I’m sure we will be involved in a major conflict soon with Iran, whom we cannot allow to get full nuclear capabilities. So maybe Syria is just the stepping stone to that engagement, but I agree with former Defense Secretary Weinberger’s 6 pt national security doctrine. (Look it up). The whole of the Middle East is the result of centuries of deep-seated cultural grudges and religious differences among tribal peoples, and is not easily sorted out. It’s complicated! The Arab Spring is blooming with poisonous fruit!
By spiritspeak • Community Roundtable 1