Thoughts On Syria

I will be the first to admit that I am torn about what America should do with respect to what is going on in Syria. Yesterday, I started this entry and was going to post a bunch of statistics and other truths about the whole situation. But no matter. People will form their own opinions and I don't need to try to sway people one way or the other. So, this is just MY opinion....MY thoughts. 

Originally, my first thought was, "Damn!!! Again? Didn't we JUST get out of 2 wars and we're already considering another?!" I was not amused by the thought. No matter what side of the fence you sit on, war is NEVER a good thing. Admittedly, I didn't know what was going on in Syria. I didn't know that millions of Syrians were dying, being raped and tortured, shot and bombed...all because they have tried to overthrow their President Bashar al-Assad and his regime. We (the US) and our allies have sat back and done nothing while all of this occurred. But then on August 21, reports that the Syrian people were now being attacked with chemical warfare changed all of that. Now we are considering military action against the Syrian government. How many of us have exercised our 1st amendment right to speak out against our own president...whether it's Obama, one of the Bush's, or any of the others? How would we feel if our government responded by killing us?

Many people say that it's not our war to fight. That we shouldn't get involved. That we have enough of our own problems to try to fix another country's problems. That we shouldn't get involved because Syrian Ally countries will retaliate against us. 

And, you know what? I 110% agree with all of those arguments. It is NOT our fight. We DO have enough of our own problems right here in America. And Syrian Allies more than likely WILL retaliate against us. 

BUT.....you knew there was going to be a "but", right? BUT, we ARE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We are the Great Protectors of the world. Generally, we are a bad ass country. It's just what we do as one of the most powerful countries in the world. Can you tell, I'm pretty patriotic and love my country? And let's not forget, we have some pretty powerful Allies on our side too! 

Think of it this way.....You are at school and you see a group of bullies CONSTANTLY ridiculing, picking on, making fun of, beating up on, and abusing/harassing someone. Or maybe YOU are the victim being abused. You KNOW this person cannot defend themselves. The bullies are just too numerous and too strong for this person to take on alone. But, hey, it's not your fight to get into, right? You have enough shit going on in your own life to get involved and anger the bullies against you. Still, you constantly see the bullies abuse getting worse and worse. What are you going to do? Are you going to just stand by and listen to this person's cries for help and do NOTHING to help? Can you live with yourself if you do that? And what if the bullies see you as a weakling because you've done nothing and they come after you anyway????? NO! You do what is right!!!! You and your friends help this person defend themselves against the bullies! Maybe you won't win. But you did your damnedest to try to defend someone that can't defend themselves. The bullies will now know that they cannot just pick a fight with anyone and get away with it. Yes, you may get injured. Many of your friends will too....worse, they may die trying to help. But you went in knowing the consequences. 

That is what war is. You don't necessarily WANT to fight. But you have to. You take chances to protect yourself or someone else because they can't do it alone. You may win or lose....you and your allies may die. But you do what you know is right to protect the children on the playground against the bullies.