Forgotten fact and new reports on Syria

Dinning in Damascus, John & Teresa Kerry with Bashar & Asma Assad Editorial: As more Americans voice opposition to Nobel Peace President Obama's latest military adventure, there is a significant fact few seem to remember.  Syria is not a western civilization.  It is a client state of Russia - an odd tyranny communists have loved for decades. The Syrian military is largely supplied by soviet equipment.  Syria has never been our friend.  Why then is Russia not responsible for it's puppet? While Iran may now be the largest puppet master, but that is just another name for evil so why should American lives and treasure be expended in yet another totalitarian failure?  Granted, if we can safely help refugees escape the carnage, America should provide assistance, but there are no good dogs in this fight and certainly none owned or allied with America. The alternative to engaging in every tragic war everywhere is understanding that some lands and some people are truly outlaws or out-of-law.  Fortunately, western civilizations fundamentally foster Rule of Law - equality under published rules for all citizens - even the nation's leaders.  Syria is not so committed.  Syria's hereditary ruler is not so restricted even with a British trophy wife.  According to Wikipedia, Syria's "system of government is considered to be non-democratic. Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000."  One man one vote one election for a lifetime - not a bad gig.

The chemical weapon angle didn't carry weight with the American Left when Saddam Hussein gassed entire villages of his own people, but now it's all gun-hoe with our current Peace President.  Maybe Syria is all George W. Bush's fault.  No one claiming birth in Hawaii could ever be called a cowboy in foreign affairs. Wednesday, U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), made a video statement after the Senate Armed Services Committee concluded a classified briefing on the situation in Syria.

Inhofe said, "I still oppose the current plan for military intervention in Syria. Five months ago, I called for President Obama to articulate a plan in Syria and the Middle East and warned that the tide of war is not receding. I still have not heard this plan. "The state of our military today cannot afford another war. The President has decimated our military by cutting its budget by $487 billion and putting another $500 billion more on the chopping block with his sequestration. Gen. Dempsey agreed when he testified before Congress earlier this year that our military is being put on a path where the ‘force is so degraded and so unready’ that it could be ‘immoral to use the force.’ "As a superpower, we have a responsibility to follow through on what we say and ensure the security of our allies and partners. We must also ensure our military has the means to fulfill those responsibilities. Our President has failed to live up to those responsibilities," Inhofe added.  His full remarks are worthy of consideration. http://youtu.be/A5nMoUB4Yy0 Further, even the LA Times suggests that President Obama "the former constitutional law professor, who came to office determined to end what critics called the cowboy foreign policy of George W. Bush, now is wrestling with some of the same moral and legal realities that led Bush to invade Iraq without clear U.N. consent in 2003."

The Times notes, "One U.S. official who has been briefed on the options on Syria said he believed the White House would seek a level of intensity 'just muscular enough not to get mocked,' but not so devastating that it would prompt a response from Syrian allies Iran and Russia."  Click here for the full LA Times story. So President Obama will spend billions on a military adventure and risk precious American lives so he doesn't get ridiculed for not intervening in a failed soviet client state?  Wow, what a magnificent and beloved leader President Obama has become.  Note to U.S. officials: ridicule comes from a free people when their leaders make stupid decisions.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008, unloaded on Obama in a Facebook post titled: “Let Allah sort it out.”

Palin argues, “If our invasion of Iraq wasn’t enough of a deterrent to stop evil men from using chemical weapons on their own people, why do we think this will be? So we’re bombing Syria because Syria is bombing Syria?  President Obama wants America involved in Syria’s civil war pitting the antagonistic Assad regime against equally antagonistic Al Qaeda affiliated rebels. But he’s not quite sure which side is doing what, what the ultimate end game is, or even whose side we should be on.” However, President Obama's ridicule is not limited to political opponents.  It is more than just those pesky Republicans standing up for the Constitution. Chris Harmer, Institute for the Study of War said in a Young Turk interview, “The broader issue is that low cost options don’t do any good unless they are tied to strategic priorities and objectives.  Punitive action is the dumbest of all actions.  The Assad regime has shown an incredible capacity to endure pain and I don’t think we have the stomach to deploy enough punitive action that would serve as a deterrent.”  The full Young Turk video report follows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r2saSF5tHk President Obama has announced “punitive action” will be limited and without strategic objectives.  Again, even within a mostly fawning media there are some critics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GfHSPLW63Gg Max Fisher from the Washington Post has written a 'Syria-for-Dummies,' if you will, for those who may not fully understand why President Obama wants to engage in military action. If you aren’t exactly sure why Syria is fighting a civil war, or even where Syria is located, then this is the article for you. What’s happening in Syria is really important, but it is also confusing and difficult to follow even for those glued to it.  Click here for Fisher's Washington Post report. In short, Syria is not our war.  There are no good guys.  Help refugees, but all else is disaster.