Thoughts On Syria

When asked about my thoughts of a military intervention on Syria by a local TV station and what I wished our local Congressman Mike Conaway would do, I shared these thoughts in no particular order.

If our goals are to protect the local indigenous peoples from the problems of the civil war, I am not sure that a military strike is the best solution.

I have a lot of confidence in Mike’s judgment on this international issue. Giving aid to “the rebels” is a delicate subject in that there is not just one group of rebels. Several groups are backed and led by several different entities, including Al Qaeda. Several of these groups have interests that are not aligned with the local indigenous population. As a result of the competing groups, not only are they fighting the local government as led by Assad, but they are fighting each other. Thus, as in any war, innocent civilians who have no care about politics are not only being harmed by Assad, but also by some of the local rebels groups that are supposed to be a part of the solution. The situation is so bad for the local populace, that tens of thousands of people are being displaced and are being forced to flee to neighboring countries such as Jordan.

A proposed military intervention solution that calls for strikes on specific targets like Damascus itself is silly in my opinion, in that only more civilians will be harmed.

I fully realize that Mike Conaway will get a detailed briefing that is not necessarily subject to public viewing. If Mike does vote to have a military strike on Syrian, targets, I will want to hear his reasons for that decision.

President Obama had the opportunity to deal with this issue over 2 ½ years ago but he did not. At this point, the best we can do is sit back and wait for the events to unfold in Syria and encourage non-governmental, humanitarian aid to be made available for the displaced war refugees.

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