Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Least Bad Option in Syria

First, contrary to what President Obama has said, the atrocities there present no security threat to the United States.
Second, U.S. intervention seems unlikely to do much good – if by “good” one means a reduction in the suffering of innocents. Unless, of course, the U.S. decides to launch a full-scale invasion followed by lengthy occupation and democratization along the lines of what America imposed on the world after WWII. Who’s up for that right now?
Anyone? Didn’t think so.
Third, and closely related to the previous reason: There are no evident good guys. It’s not as though the Syrian conflict pits a brutal dictatorship against the equivalent of the American civil-rights movement, circa 1963. The Syrian opposition is thick with al-Qaida, and one of its leaders recently denounced potential American military intervention as “satanic.” Lovely.

http://reason.com/archives/2013/09/04/the-least-bad-option-in-syria 

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