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[quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele]I oppose intervention.

It is not clear to me how bombing Syria will improve the conditions of the Syrian people. More than likely, we will kill a significant number of civilians and I would not be surprised if we end up killing more civilians than were allegedly killed in the gas attack. At the end of the day, we will leave the country worse off than it is now.

Those most likely to benefit from our involvement are groups linked to al-Qaida. Such groups are currently imposing Sharia law in formerly secular Syrian cities. Why anyone believes assisting such groups is in the US interest in beyond me.

The US obviously is not concerned about Syrians being killed. There are far better ways of preventing that than bombing them[b]. Rather, Obama laid down a red line and that line was crossed [/b](at least in the US interpretation of events which I for one take with a grain of salt). So, what is at risk here is Obama's and by extension, the US's prestige. So, I ask, how many Syrians must die for Obama's prestige? Frankly, I don't think it is worth a single individual. John Kerry famously asked, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" There is a certain tragic irony in seeing him offer justifications for the killing of many more for another mistake.

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I am against intervention in this case. I don't think it will have any humanitarian impact or any other impact frankly except it will kill innocent Syrians.  However, I don't think it is precisely accurate to say that "Obama drew a line" as though he is individually responsible for a ban on chemical weapons. 187 out of 196 nations (Syria did not ratify) recognized by the UN joined the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty. I realize that this does not give any nation the right to use force against Syria for using chemical weapons. but using them is certainly considered a"taboo" in warfare by the vast majority of nation.  It is not something Obama pulled out of his ass to make himself feel tough. That is a mischaracterization and a simplification in my opinion.[/quote]

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