"DAMASCUS—The target of a future U.S. drone strike aimed at taking out anti-American extremists strongly urged swift U.S. military intervention in Syria, sources confirmed Thursday. “President Obama and American forces must step in and help us overthrow Assad,” said the radical Islamist who will be the object of what will one day be an intense and lengthy manhunt by the CIA and whose death will reportedly be hailed as a major strategic victory by counterterrorism officials. “There needs to be a new regime in Syria immediately.” At press time, a non-target of a future drone strike, currently indistinguishable from the target of one, was saying the same thing.-www.theonion.com"
I love the Onion News Network. I usually don't repost anything like the story above on my blog, but this one time, the article really sums up my opinion of the situation in Syria.
We're considering some level of military retaliation for the use of chemical weapons. Fine. But the rhetoric, pomp and circumstance surrounding the discussion sounds a whole lot like the discussions preceding the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
On the anniversary of Sept 11, I would like to point out the following:
Some group of terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, and the U.S. responded by taking down two countries. The rest of the BS about weapons of mass destruction, etc. was just a bunch of talk. Frankly, I'm OK with that outcome. I think the U.S, should worry less about preventing terrorist attacks and focus a whole lot more on inappropriate and overwhelming responses to future attacks. I think we should publish a list of cities we will destroy in the event of future terrorist attacks on our soil, and update the list monthly. Let those cities and the leadership thereof fight our terrorist war for us. Let us quit trading our freedom for supposed security, etc.
Obama poked a lot of fun and threw a lot of rocks at Bush and McCain for pursuing those wars, and now he's the one starting another one just like those. That's gotta be hard - even for a sleazy politician.
There is not a 'good' side in Syria. Nobody over there is our friend, and no matter how the ongoing conflict there is resolved, the U.S. loses. It's in our best interest to let these folks continue to fight with each other so that the leave us the hell alone. Why would we intervene in that situation at all?
I don't think the world needs a policeman. If it does I don't think it should be the U.S.
So, let Syrians solve the Syrian crisis. If the culture over there allows their leadership to involve chemical weapons, so be it. Hopefully, the guys that hate us so much over there will continue to fight amongst themselves until they become insignificant. Until oil was discovered in the Middle East, that's the way things were anyway.
Finally, I am among those who will never forget Sept 11, and who believes a strong military response to such actions in the future will always honor those who died that day.