AUSTIN BAY: Behind the Persistent Crisis of Refugees and Displaced Persons.

The Assad regime has clung to power, despite using chemical weapons. Recall that the Obama administration said use of chemical weapons against civilians constituted a “red line” the Assad regime could not cross. But cross it did, without punishment. ISIL rose when the U.S. withdrew from Iraq and left a power vacuum.

Assisting refugees by providing aid and shelter is necessary, but both are second-order responses. The first-order response is confronting the violent, malevolent local regimes that spur the flight. They thrive on poverty, oppression, persecution and war. Confronting them may mean regime change.

Weeping for the refugees’ plight is a superficial reaction unless you’re willing to fight the evil that produced it.

True, but for many it offers a convenient distraction.