In Syria the “answer” is not military action although the threat of it should be apparent to Assad, the knave who ordered or allowed the use of chemical weapons in genocide of his own country’s citizens. World opinion—including Russians, Chinese and Iranians—should turn on that despicable dictator, Assad the terrible.
The United States and the developed world can’t afford a war in Syria. War is expensive and the outcome is uncertain, especially beyond the very short-term. From a humanitarian viewpoint, too, war in Syria is not advisable. Violence begets violence. Kindness begets kindness. But with people like Assad the terrible, the realistic threat of violence and every other form of sanction is sometimes propitious, such as now.
How in the world did a person such as Assad go from the noble profession of being a doctor to being a perpetrator of genocide? What a terrible transformation.
I was in Syria the day that Assad’s father, the previous dictator, died. Sirens wailed and I really didn’t understand the occasion. In America the passing of presidents such as President Kennedy were marked with beauty, remorse and ceremony. We mourn the death of our elected presidents. I always thought it quite odd the sirens sounding on the death of the dictator, “king” Assad.
