RED LINE CROSSED, IS ANOTHER WAR IN OUR FUTURE?

(Asian Times, USA TODAY, Brookings)

(Manila Luzon, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Another war dog is born, and this one, like so many other of his brethren came dressed in sheep’s clothing, bearing fruits of peace, all the while waiting for just the right moment and issue to raise up and take his rightful place alongside histories other giants of war that have represented our country on the world stage, could it have been any other way!

 

And now a red line, what does that mean, is it like a line in the sand, or some grad school playground game, you remember, a guy uses a stick to draw a line, or just puts the stick on the ground and dares the adversary to either step over the stick, or the line…..and…..well in my experience, and at my grade school playground nobody ever crossed the line, maybe my classmates were all wimps.

 

If it wasn’t so serious what goes on in Washington would be comical, and worthy of a belly laugh…..however the issue is serious, the United States does not need another war. Possibly the worst move that Capitol Hill did was to quit mandatory military service…..conscription. The move was a calculated one, but not for the reasons one might think.

 

The unspoken reason behind the United States having an all volunteer military is really simple, and makes sense, if you are a war making country. Non-conscription eliminates wide-spread concern about the condition of military personnel, the care and the dangers that they might face on a day to day basis. Some of our current soldiers have had as many as 4 tours of service in war zones in the Middle East, an abomination, and a building issue with military leaders.

 

I didn’t know this little tidbit of world history, at least not all of it, but the United States and Libya has a history, it goes all the way back to 1942 and World War 2. The U.S. bombed Libya and Egypt because of Axis activity, resulting in driving out both the German and Italian occupying forces, the Egypt-Libya Campaign ended in February 1943.

 

The United States Air Force bombed Libya two other times, in 1986 during Ronald Reagan’s administration and in 2011 under President Obama’s regime, so it would seem understandable for some Libyans to hold at least a bitter taste in their mouths.

 

The Libyan conflict that occurred in the fall of 2011 thankfully ended on a happy note, at least for doves like me, there wasn’t a war that came out of the confrontation. Of course sadly there were American deaths, as everybody knows with the attack of the diplomatic quarters in Bengasi…..which still may be an issue.

 

SYRIA-U.S. RELATIONS

I’ve blogged about war more times than I’d like to remember, but I feel compelled to ensure that another small voice in the wilderness protests war on any scale, and almost for any reason. I reiterate…..nothing ever is solved by a war, conflict, or skirmish where people’s lives are lost and blood is spilled.

 

At the very best the Syrian American relationship can be summed up in one word, tepid, with questions regarding priority issues between the countries. The Arab-Israeli conflict, the Golan Heights annexation, the Iraq War and the Syria’s Arab Spring protests.

 

 As with almost anything connected with the Middle East, the history goes back a long way, in fact official relations began back in 1835 with the establishment of U.S. counsels to Aleppo, a city in northern Syria which at the time was part of the Ottoman Empire.

 

After Syria claimed her independence in 1946, the United States would establish a consulate in Damascus, and appointed George Wadsworth as the director of the first diplomatic mission. However as the result of a failed 1957 C.I.A. backed coup attempt to topple Syrian President Abid Shishakli, the country demanded that U.S. Ambassador leave Damascus, and Faris Zain Al-Din, the Syrian Ambassador was recalled, thus severing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

 

Relations grew better during the early 1960’s but were again severed during the 1967 Arab War which resulted in Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights. Following the achievement of the Syrian-Israeli disengagement agreement, relations resumed in June 1974 between the countries, and in fact President Richard Nixon visited Damascus on one of his last official trips as U.S. President.

 

The aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attack on the U.S. brought the closest ties between the two countries in its history.  Syrian intelligence alerted the U.S. of an Al Qaeda plan similar to the USS Cole bombing, which was to fly a hang glider loaded with explosives into the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.

 

However Syria was opposed to the Iraq invasion by the United States, thus deteriorating military and diplomatic relations. Finally any sort of relationship was completely severed when Syria failed to prevent foreign fighters from using Syrian borders to enter Iraq and refused to deport the elements from the former Saddam Hussein regime that supported Iraqi insurgency.

 

To say the least, and in retrospect, my use of the word tepid to explain the relationship between the U.S. and Syria is a favor in my explanation. A better word would be piss-poor, but I would like to keep this blog as family oriented as possible. I do think however that Syria offers only passive support to groups it deems as legitimate resistance movements.

 

Syria has its own hind-end to cover a possible reason for the support that it does give terrorists, however the United States terms this passive support as providing a safe haven for terrorists groups. To me this would seem like an excellent type of activity for the U.S. to stay clear of the country, and monitor the situation of human rights from a safe distance.

 

SYRIAN CIVIL WAR

As far as wars go…..Syria and her people are veterans, the Syrian people have been shooting, knifing, bombing and kicking the crap out of one another 40 times in its history. The current military upheaval is absolutely nothing new, and nothing that the United States needs to get involved with. No matter what is done, no matter how many people are savaged…..no matter whatever treaty is agreed to, they always go back to hacking and slashing one another.

 

The only red line Syrian people understand is the one that is drawn in blood, there is a history of resistance…..at any cost. Even if the reputed bad-boy, of the current situation, President Bashar al Assad is deposed there is absolutely no guarantee that the contesting forces will kiss and make peace. Why would the United States want to get involved with a situation that has almost never had a beginning date, and for damn sure doesn’t have an ending one.

 

 

Again…..here’s the deal, like in so many other instances, my enemy is your enemy applies here; we’re talking about Hezbollah and Iran here. Make absolutely no mistakes here, like World War 1, World War 2, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, if we do in fact enter the Syrian struggle, it will be to stop terrorism, and have little to do with human rights.

 

World War 1 was to stop aggression against our allies, World War 2 to vent revenge on the Japanese’s, Korea and Vietnam to stop the spread of communism, and Iraq, and now Afghanistan to battle terrorists over there before the battle is over here.

 

It is estimated that possibly 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks, a paltry number when one considers the 90,000 that have been killed during the two year civil war. And don’t get me wrong, I have not graduated to those stupid pundits who cite the insignificancy numbers of the loss of human life by comparing it to another combat situation…..to lose one life because of somebody’s stupid war is way too much.

 

I think that I am done with Obama and his seeming elitist posturing, people die from political posturing, and its way past time for it to stop. I voted for Obama, both times, and now am completely dissatisfied with the results that I’ve gotten from my vote. I voted for leadership down a new path, not to a pandering to almost all of the old ways of both parties. Maybe it’s the water at the White House; maybe bottled water is what we need throughout the structure of our government in Washington!

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!