I have several different thoughts on Syria. They all follow a similar train.
We don't have a dog in the fight. We don't have a reason for pretending we have a dog in the fight. We don't have any excuse for pushing someone else's dog into the fight so we can get into the fight. We are lying about the dog we don't have in the fight actually being a dog and we are most likely lying about the chemical weapons.
Even if we had a dog in the fight and or a reason for getting a dog: Is the man who's greatest accomplishment in life is playing more golf than any two presidents and spending more than $1 BILLION tax payer dollars on his vacations, the guy we want to have lead us into a war?
I wonder how psyched the President of the United States of America is to be acting as the Commander in Chief of al Qaeda's air force? That is what the US will be doing in Syria. We will be providing air support for the people who made 9-11 happen. Am I the only one who thinks this is treason in a time of war? Forget impeachment why aren't we looking at trails for treason for the entire administration and any member of Congress that is hawking this nonsense?
I guess O's "Muslim faith" is more important than his oath of office.
As someone who grew up during the cold war, I believed the Russians were always wrong. It looks like they are right this time. I hate myself for even thinking that.
George Washington was correct. We should keep our nose out of the worlds business.
Dwight Eisenhower was correct. We have a problem with our military industrial complex wanting tax payer profits at the expense of everyone else.
General Smedley Butler USMC was correct, war is a racket.
Even the brain dead, American Idol loving (how's that for redundancy?) American public knows Syria is a bad idea with absolutely no US interests at stake. How out of touch, and just plain stupid are our political leaders?
Q: If John Kerry and Barrack Obama stared in a movie together what would the name of the movie be?
A: Dumb and Dumber.
Pacifist
ReplyDeleteButler was correct when he said that, over a hundred years ago. It is in no way correct today and it maligns the character of every person, military and civilian, who is in the war "business".
ReplyDeleteHale,
ReplyDeleteTo your knowledge, has there ever been any instance of a weapon system that was serviceable, efficient, and still preforming its intended function that was scrapped in order to make room for a new system that fulfilled the same role? Likewise have their been projects that were overly expensive for reasons that had nothing to do with the hard cost of providing the goods in question?
Res, what is your opinion of the Monroe Doctrine?
ReplyDeleteWB,
ReplyDeleteIt was a good idea for its time. I suspect that we would enforce it today if the need arose.
In a sense, you could make the point that Russia is doing a similar thing in Syria. They don't want US troops on the ground on their doorstop.
In another sense, the point could be made that the US has gone from peaceful society interested in its own affairs to international bully and therefore is violating its own stated diplomatic principles.
Good points, all.
ReplyDeleteAt its core, though, is also the idea that the interests of the US do not lie solely within its own borders. And I generally disagree with calls for action against other countries on questions of morality, as is currently the case in Syria (assuming that the present regime is the one using the gas, of course).
But there are indeed strategic economic interests overseas for which we need to be concerned, just as there were in Monroe's day. As one example, this is why I support using the US Navy to fight piracy in international waters.
George Washington was correct that we should keep our nose out of the world's business...but IMO, we should keep it in our business in the world.
I agree that our national interests do extend beyond our boarders. I concede the larger point that it is unlikely that we can ever return to being an isolationist nation.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how Syria, even if they are gassing rebels, is our business. For the record our government, as have Britain, Germany and France, has gassed far more people than Syria. I fail to see how starting a war in the worlds oil shipping lanes would be a positive thing for anyone, especially the USA.
We are in agreement, then.
ReplyDelete