US War in Syria Will Only Bring More Death and Destruction to Syrian People
Another military strike or regime change war is not the answer to the tragedy in Syria. A US attack against the Assad government will do nothing to help the Syrian people but only cause more death and destruction, and create a dangerous military confrontation with Russia, threatening the world with nuclear annihilation. An attack will also be illegal, having received no authorization from Congress or the UN Security Council. Past US regime change wars have left a path of destruction which has caused incomprehensible suffering to the people of the Middle East. This reckless US policy of regime change and endless war must be stopped.
The rush to judgement about the alleged gas attack and harsh war rhetoric sounds more like propaganda than reality and does more to obscure than reveal the truth about what is actually happening in Syria. Having closely followed the situation in Syria for a long time, I see no rational reason for the Assad regime to use gas when it has essentially won the civil war. In contrast, rebel groups, many of whom are linked to al Qaeda, have much to gain by provoking a US attack against the Syrian military. The truth is we do not know what actually happened and the only way of having any hope of finding out is an impartial investigation by international experts. Such a team is currently in route to Syria at this moment.
There are no sane or practical military options for the US in Syria. The only rational course forward is to work with Russia and the UN to agree to a peace settlement, which means Assad is probably going to stay for the time being. The Assad regime, like many other governments around the world, has little respect for democracy or human rights. Among the worst is the government of Saudi Arabia, a major US ally and sponsor of war in Syria and Yemen. This all needs to change, and the way to change it is not with war, but through international negotiation, demilitarization, diplomatic and economic pressure, and the overall strengthening of international law. Demanding that our elected representatives respect international law, human rights, and the US Constitution is the best way the American people can help the people in Syria and the world.
The sad truth is that many industries in the US profit from war, not only from the prosecution of war and the use of expensive weapons, but from the spoils of war, be it oil, pipelines, mineral resources, or banking and control of markets. I believe it are these industries and the investors who control them, the same investors who own major media networks, that corrupt our elections, distort our media, that are driving US foreign policy toward endless war. It is the profit motive of these industries that has more to do with the US policy in Syria and elsewhere than any concern for the Syrian people. One has to wonder how long this drive to more war can continue before we really end up in world war 3.
The American people, like average people around the world, do not want war. As citizens of the most militarily powerful nation in human history, our collective survival may well depend on our ability to defeat the corrupting influence of corporate money in our elections and elect representatives who will do what the people want and truly stand up for the cause of human rights, peace, and international law in the world.