Will the U.S. Fail Syria Again?
After Clinton’s announcement, the Iranian mullahs — along with Hamas and Hezbollah — sighed with relief. Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan publicly supported Assad, as did King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. And the U.S. pulled its fleet from Bahrain. Intentional or not, the U.S. missed yet another golden opportunity to re-energize its allies and change the course of history. Assad will now take his vengeance on the Syrian and Lebanese people — and foment new conflict to harm Israelis. As long as the Assad regime lives, the region is in turmoil.
Burying conflicts and horse trading with weak countries make America weak. If the U.S. is willing to save an unpopular Assad when his people are demanding an end to his regime of terror, its own measure of power suffers. Freedom does not come in different colors or sizes. The moment politicians differentiate one people’s freedom from another, or trade freedoms as if they were a Cold War commodity, we become hostage to our own short-sightedness.
This Friday is a major test for the Syrian opposition. If it erupts again in Syria, all bets are off. Syrians will be watching the world community diligently. Will it fail to support the Syrian people and fail to condemn Assad when he begins massacring our people again?
Regardless of how inept or just plain stupid this administration is, Syria is NOT our problem. America is not to blame if Assad stays in power. We don’t owe their citizens anything.
Farid, I suggest you take on your own mercenary mission or pay those willing.
I wonder what the Israelis think about what’s happening in Syria? Do they want Assad to go or to stay? If Assad stays, then you will still have a killer who will do pretty much whatever Iran wants him to do, including continuing his policy of launching terror attacks against Israel through Hezbollah. But if Assad falls, who will replace him? There are NO pro-western or democratic movements within Syria, so who would take over? The Syrian military? Or would some Muslim cleric or Islamist take over, as in Iran? The options look lousy either way. But to simply say that we should support the opporsition in Syria to overthrow Assad certainly does NOT guarantee that whoever replaces him will be any better, and could be a whole lot worse.
IN DEFENSE OF HILLARY
Come on Farid, give the dentist some slack. His father killed 20,000 Syrian rebels in three weeks. It’s been longer than that since Syria’s protests began and how many Syrians have died? 50, 90 a few hundred? That’s progress Farid. Bashar isn’t the basher his father was. Hillary’s got a good case when she says that the guy’s a reformer.
Asad is an ophthalmologist.
Wrong, Mike! He was a dentist. Hundreds of Syrians have the bite marks to prove it. Click my name for an expanded version of my post.
@Michal
Is that pronounced ‘optimist’?
Failed civilization? Check.
Religion of hatred? Check.
Another Arab tyrant? Check.
Brutal suppression, ethnic cleansing? Check.
Genocidal intent? Check.
Another Arab blames the hated infidel? Check.
Slight variation on your own words : “On display this week was the same fatuously arrogant Arab the world is familiar with — deflecting blame and eluding responsibility for the massacres his society committed against his own people, the same way he evasively denied… blah blah blah.
Consider it accomplished. To Obama, it is just a day’s work.
If by “fail” you mean not become openly engaged in military action Libya style, the answer to your question is. “We certainly hope so!”
We are not witnessing the rise of seekers of western style democratic rule and freedom. We are seeing the ascendency of fundamentalist Islam, perceiving an opportunity to use the cover of rallies against kleptocratic tyrants,whether dentists or colonels,s, to gain theocratic rule. Exactly why we should facilitate their agenda and embroil ourselves in even more hopeless wars to “help” those dedicated to the genocide of Israel, beats the hell out of me.