It is interesting to see the hob-knobbing and bantering back and forth between Congress and the White House over the Syria 'issue'. Even though there are rumors, with some circumstantial evidence, that Obama was already arming the Syrian rebels with spare military parts floating around on the black market in Libya...(which resulted in the Benghazi debacle) we are now going to make our assistance 'formal'.
So, how has intervening in Arab affairs helped us out so far? Bill Clinton bombed the Serbs into absolute submission and stopped a genocidal war being waged on Muslims. They still hate us. Further back, we pulled our support from the Shah of Iran and allowed him to fall to the Iranians' wishes. They thanked us by taking our embassy personnel hostage. We supplied the Mujahadeen with shoulder fired stinger missiles and evened the playing field between them and the Soviets. They still hate us. In fact, one of their leaders, Osama bin Laden...who benefitted from the help...went on to write a bloody story against us. We saved the Kuwaitis, who still hate us. Our oilfield technology took them from living in tents and drinking soured goat milk to living in palaces and driving cars made of silver. They still hate us. We removed a ruthless dictator and his two maniacal sons so the people could be free (not the real reason, but just go with it) and they only want to kill us. We removed the merciless Taliban from power in Afghanistan, and yet they wish only to destroy America. We give billions and billions of dollars in aid to the Egyptians, the Jordanians, the Saudis, the Iraqis, the Afghanis and a lot more I probably don't know about....and they shout 'Death to America'.
In fact, there's only one type of person they hate worse than an infidel. If you're a Sunni, you hate Shi'ites. If you're a Shi'ite, you hate Sunnis. Depending on which side of the fence you're on, one or the other is an apostate; worthy only of death at most, being shunned as second rate at best. So, we've been having this tiff in Iraq ever since Saddam fell from power. He was Sunni...the minority, and his power kept the Shi'ites at bay. Assad, in Syria, is Shia...and the majority. But now, his enemies have risen on all sides, and he is in mortal trouble.
These blood feuds have been going on for centuries. The Arabs have taken 'an eye for an eye' all the way to 'Professional Level' when it comes to revenge. There is nothing America can do...nothing....to stop them from killing each other. Right now, we're pretty damned busy trying to keep them from killing us.
There is an old saying. When you see your enemies at war, rest easy and be content. But when you see them of one mind, place rocks on the ramparts and arrows in the quarrel. What I'm seeing in Syria is my enemies at war. Why then are we ramping up to get involved, yet again, in a game we have no skin in. Egypt's own government has informally sanctioned jihad against Assad, and has as much as said it will not punish Egyptians who go there to fight and then return. Egypt is turning on Syria. Saudi Arabia won't intervene. Neither will Jordan.
How did our helping overthrow Qaddafi make friends? We lost a consulate and four Americans in thanks. In what way did our withdrawal of support for Mubarak endear us that much more to the Egyptian people?
The definition of insane...as I'm sure you've heard before...is to continue to do the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. If that is true, which I believe it is, then our government needs to be locked up in the proverbial padded room. To even begin to believe that any involvement on our part in Syria will turn out differently, we'll lock you up with the government.
The thinking seems to be, 'We have to do something!' My question is...why? Why do American sons have to...once again...be put in harm's way to help those who hate us. Getting involved in Syria's civil war is to poke our nose into a hornet's nest that is none of our business. Support Israel, blockade the Syrian coast to keep it fair, and let 'em duke it out. Other than that, let me know what happens when the smoke clears.
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