Syrian Rebellion

I try to avoid reading about turmoil in the middle east, but it’s a difficult news story to avoid.  Regimes have fallen in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, and the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al Assad will likely be the next one to fall.  I get uneasy when I read about American support for Syrian rebels almost as if American leaders, in particular Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are calling for American participation in the demise of that regime.

Historically, since the beginning of time, the region has not been stable.  Biblical accounts and historians accounts of the region tell of violence and turmoil.  Religious and cultural differences are ingrained in the regional psyche to the point that reason and logic fail to bring about clarity.  American involvement has been equally unreasonable. 

In the past, American foreign policy has supported the Shah of Iran, the House of Saud, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Yassar Arafat, Hosne Mubarak and his predecessor Anwar Sadat, and others.  At the top of that list is every Israeli leader since 1948.  Because the deep divisions among the peoples of the region are rooted in intolerance, any regional leader that Americans support, causes ill will for that persons opponents. 

My personal observations cover only a short time span in the history of the region.  These observations lead me to conclude that we should not get involved in any fashion with the turmoil in Syria, or in any subsequent turmoil in any other country in that region.  Over the weekend, tired and bored, I was channel surfing and stopped for a short time to watch Black Hawk Down.  While it is not entirely historically accurate, it is based on an actual diplomatic and military fiasco that cost several American lives, and we gained absolutely nothing in exchange for those lives. 

I am a military retiree, I took an oath to defend my constitution and to follow the orders of my President.  I trained for 31 years to do that and never had the privilege, or misfortune, to be called into combat.  Make no mistake; I was ready to do my duty regardless of my personal or political beliefs.  When I say that those lives were lost and we gained nothing in exchange for those lives, I say so with anger and with trepidation.

Every American President during my adult life has made the middle east a central focus of their campaigns and their foreign policy.  Clearly, they have all failed to make any significant gains, as we can see from the unrest during the Arab Spring that has evolved into an Arab two years.  It is my sincere hope that Clinton does not stir the pot, as she is proned to do, and advocate for American action in Syria.  Please, let us not send aid to the rebels like we sent to bin Laden and Hussein.  Let us not send troops either.  The prayers we send will be just as effective and they cost so much less.