Turning a Blind Eye

“The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.”  Federalist Papers

It’s reassuring to see the American public push back against President Obama’s itch to bomb Syria. After more than a decade of continuous wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, plus lesser skirmishes in Somalia and Yemen and Pakistan, with no end to the War on Terror on the horizon, the people have soured on war.

This doesn’t mean that gun-slinging politicians like John McCain or swaggering diplomats like Secretary of State John Kerry have lost their fascination with Shock & Awe military operations, and I expect my own senator, Dianne Feinstein, to jump on the bandwagon and beat the war drum with both of her manicured hands.

As usual, the hypocrisy of the United States is staggering. When Iraq employed chemical weapons against Iran in the 1980’s, we didn’t bat an eye because Iran was by then our sworn enemy. We helped Iraq’s dictator acquire the materials needed to produce chemical weapons, with full understanding of who he intended to use them against.

Nor should we conveniently forget – during the media barrage to convince us that the US has no other option but to attack Syria -- that the US is the world’s foremost arms dealer, purveyor of fine cluster munitions, land mines, drones, fighter aircraft and attack helicopters. Quite often these weapons wind up in the hands of autocrats; today’s ally can quickly turn into tomorrow’s enemy. The US clearly has the military power to act as the world’s constable, but when it comes to moral authority, it has no standing whatsoever.

If President Obama’s full-court PR press works and Congress authorizes military action against Syria, and the cruise missiles fly, and the Smart munitions zoom at their targets with much-hyped precision, what will be the result? By “degrading” the Assad regime’s military capability who will the US be aiding? The rebels? But who are the rebels and what are their aims for Syria? Will they be more or less aligned with the evil regime in neighboring Iran? More or less hostile to Europe and the US? Does anyone have any idea?

After the blatant lies and propaganda that preceded the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the revelations of widespread domestic spying by the NSA and other arms of the national security apparatus, the attacks on journalists and their sources, the killing of innocent civilians in Yemen and Pakistan, after all this I can’t see how any sober person can believe any pronouncement coming from the US government. President Obama talks about transparency at the same time he shuts out the lights and locks the door.

The use of chemical weapons is barbaric, and the world is right to condemn Syria, but there are other ways – diplomatic and economic – to punish Assad.