Syria... The Pandora's Box of our future?

I do not claim to be an expert on the Middle East.  I do however understand that we can not apply the same reason and logic when dealing with that region as we would dealing with anyone else.  History has proven that it does not work.

We have seen uprisings in Libya, Egypt, and now Syria.  I do believe that the people of those nations should not be oppressed and deserve to live free from Tyranny.  The problem is that they do not understand how to live in a democratic world.  Take Egypt for example.  They elect a President, and rather than wait for the next election like we do here, a percentage of the population decides to stage a military coup.

I do believe that our Foreign Policy is in shambles.  It is absolutely disgraceful and embarassing.  I do not put all of the blame on our current Administration, but I do believe that they have made it worse rather than better.  The sheer incompetence of this Administration is overwhelming.  Sadly the media has refused to hold them accountable.  I do fear that through this Administration's incompetence, they may have backed us into having no choice but to respond militarily.  President Obama said himself, ""If you don't do it, you send a message of impunity.  Iran, North Korea, and Hezbollah will look at the United States and say 'Nothing means anything' -- that's what's at stake here."

Syria is a true quagmire in my view.  The rebels there are begging for the world's help.  I feel for them.  But Al Qaeda is in there fighting alongside the rebels.  Al Qaeda is our sworn enemy.  So not only will we have to deal with the current regime, but we will have to figure out who is Al Qaeda and who are legitimately Syrian Rebels.  And if we do help the rebels, will Al Qaeda turn their attention towards us?

CNN reported this morning, "In June, France said sarin had been used several times in the war, including at least once by the Syrian regime."  Hmm...  now if chemical weapons have been used previously several times and "at least once by the Syrian Regime" then who else is using them and where is the outcry against those groups as well?

Don't get me wrong, NO Government on this planet should use Chemical Weapons.  Especially on its own people.  It is absolutely unacceptable and should not be tolerated.  Assad and his regime should be punished for using chemical weapons on its own people.

Obama is quickly learning what Bush learned a long time ago.  The UN is a joke.  Russia and China are hell bent to veto anything that the rest of the world believes is the right course of action.  The Security Council has become a laughing stock as it is the epitome of grid lock.  Doing anything in this world with the UN's blessing is nearly impossible.  So I do not hold President Obama to the "Must have UN Permission" to proceed standard.

I have grave concerns when I do not see our normal allies up in arms sharing our same outrage and desire to do something about it.  Our European Allies in recent days have pulled back the rhetoric and are now calling for diplomatic solutions.  Why?  Is it because they see similar polls where 80% of our citizens oppose military action against Syria?  Or do they know something that our media is withholding from us?

I believe that based upon History, Military action is the only option that will have any long term success.  Unfortunately that option requires more than just firing some tomahawks from the Mediterranean if we are going to see any fruitful success.  For us to do that though, we need to get a coalition together like we did in the first Gulf War.  We can not do this alone.  What happened to the League of Arab Nations?  You never hear about this organization the last several years?  These are the people that should be screaming and taking the lead with us acting in support.

My largest concern/fear is that if we attack Syria, that this will cause a domino effect in the region.  Russia and China don't scare me because they will not get militarily involved against us.  They have too many higher priorities than to go to war with us.  But we have the loonies in Iran.  I am not convinced that they are not smart enough to not use this as an opportunity to start trouble with Israel.  Remember that the people in power there believe that this is all a sign of their equivalent to our "Revelations" in our Bible.

Remember that both World Wars started in what appeared as isolated events that escalated.  Is Syria that Pandora's Box that could lead to a much bigger conflict?  I don't believe that we are talking World War 3 here, but I do fear a war that makes the recent wars look small.

I am glad that President Obama is going to go through Congress.  He really doesn't have a choice after his VP went all over the airwaves in 2007 threatening impeachment of Bush if he attacked Iran without Congress approval.  I do not hold any criticism of President Obama for having to take this course.  Frankly, given the risks of escalation, I would feel better if Congress was involved versus just President Obama.

I do pray that our President and the leaders in Congress make the right decision to get us through this.  I am against going at this alone.  I hope that the world's attitude changes after the UN reports come out proving that Chemical weapons were indeed used.  And if the report doesn't prove it, then I hope that we will pursue diplomatic avenues until we do have our allies lined up in support of military options.