Tag: syria

Syria’s Insurrection Is Not America’s War

In pushing for U.S. military intervention in Syria — arming the insurgents and using U.S. air power to “create safe zones” for anti-regime forces “inside Syria’s borders” — The Washington Post invokes “vital U.S. interests” that are somehow imperiled there. Exactly what these vital interests are is left unexplained. For 40 years, we have lived … Continue reading “Syria’s Insurrection Is Not America’s War”

Are You Ready for War With Syria?

Listen to Rep. Paul deliver this address. War drums are beating again in Washington. This time Syria is in the crosshairs after a massacre there last week left more than 100 dead. As might be expected from an administration with an announced policy of “regime change” in Syria, the reaction was to blame only the … Continue reading “Are You Ready for War With Syria?”

The Houla Hoaxsters

It was supposed to be another “Benghazi moment” – an incident so horrific that it would spark Western military intervention in Syria’s increasingly violent civil war. The massacre at Houla was reported to be just such a moment: Syria’s security forces stand accused of killing 32 children under ten years of age, and more than … Continue reading “The Houla Hoaxsters”

Syria Simmers Amid UN Security Council Deadlock 

The United States and its Western allies appear increasingly inclined to push for regime change in Syria, although the latest round of diplomatic talks at the U.N. Security Council Wednesday suggest that it remains a distant possibility. Both Russia and China, the two leading members of the Shanghai Cooperation Pact, a growing military alliance in … Continue reading “Syria Simmers Amid UN Security Council Deadlock “

Hands Off Syria

The recent massacre by the Syrian government of 108 people, mostly women and children, will inevitably put intense pressure on a reluctant Obama administration to take out President Bashar al-Assad using force. As was obvious when the United States evicted Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi after he threatened to kill lots of his compatriots, hawks thirsting for … Continue reading “Hands Off Syria”

Get Serious About Syria

The Syrian conflict continued to boil — or boil over — when Syrian troops fired across the Turkish border on April 9, apparently killing either fleeing refugees or armed combatants. However, despite continued words of caution from the Pentagon and White House about getting into another messy Middle East war, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton … Continue reading “Get Serious About Syria”

Syria: Let’s You and Him Fight

The usual suspects are at it again — doing their damnedest to escalate a war they have no intention of either fighting in or paying for themselves, and to involve you in it. US Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (of the "Connecticut for Lieberman" Party, in which the ordering of names conveys his … Continue reading “Syria: Let’s You and Him Fight”

Military Intervention in Syria is a Bad Idea

Although the impulse to try to end the ongoing repression by the Syrian regime against its own people through foreign military intervention is understandable, it would be a very bad idea. Empirical studies have repeatedly demonstrated that international military interventions in cases of severe repression actually exacerbate violence in the short term and can only reduce … Continue reading “Military Intervention in Syria is a Bad Idea”

Poll Shows Little US Support for Syria Intervention

Despite strenuous efforts by prominent neoconservatives and other hawks, a war-weary U.S. public is clearly very leery of any armed intervention in what many experts believe is rapidly becoming a civil war in Syria, according to recent polls. In a survey released last week, the Pew Research Center found that only 25% of respondents said … Continue reading “Poll Shows Little US Support for Syria Intervention”

Bomb-Iran Week Turns ‘Syrious’

This week was supposed to be all about Iran – at least, that’s how Israel and its powerful U.S. lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), had planned it – and why the U.S. should prepare to bomb it very, very soon if its leadership doesn’t cave into Western demands to abandon its nuclear … Continue reading “Bomb-Iran Week Turns ‘Syrious’”