Dog And Pony Show
The latest dog and pony show in our beloved media is all the “outrage” over President Trump’s decision to pull completely out of Syria and Afghanistan. Keep in mind that many of the people now feigning outrage at the troop withdrawal are the SAME PEOPLE who were against going in to Syria in the first place. Let me recall for the reader a New York Times Editorial by Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson that was published on October 6, 2016. The article had the completely unambiguous title “DON’T INTERVENE IN SYRIA”. Not much “wiggle room” there! The interested reader can locate the full text of the article via the following link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/opinion/dont-intervene-in-syria.amp.html
A few excerpts:
“The truth is, it’s too late for the United States to wade deeper into the Syrian conflict.”
And:
“As conflict spiraled and casualties increased, so would international pressure for another costly, protracted and thankless American led ground intervention to enforce peace which domestic opinion in the United States would not support.”
So, the liberal position in October of 2016 seemed pretty clear AGAINST U.S. intervention in Syria. Well, why the about face now? Could it be that it is because withdrawal is now MR. TRUMP’S IDEA, rather than that of the erudite editors of the NYT? And, SINCE it is Mr. Trump’s idea, it must be denigrated immediately? Well, well, well! Maybe so!
And, to further support their vitriol, they have gloated over the resignation of General “Mad Dog” Mattis as Secretary of Defense. The implication is, of course, that Mr. Trump, uniquely, doesn’t work well with the military. What they have failed to mention, however, is that when General Mattis retires, as scheduled in February, 2019, he will have served more days (768) than ANY of the Obama appointed Secretaries of Defense: Leon Panetta (606), Chuck Hagel (720), Ash Carter (702)!
And, the fact that senior cabinet advisors disagree with the withdrawal DOESN’T mean, necessarily, that it’s wrong to do so. Why DO we have to continue to let our young men and women put their lives on the line for the goings on in an indisputably insane corner of the globe? We went in to Syria to defeat ISIS. When we did so, ISIS represented a clear and present danger to our country. We NEEDED to defeat them. And, so, now we have. Some may quibble that we haven’t yet executed every last ISIS fighter, and that’s true. But we HAVE eliminated their control over TERRITORY. Further “clean up” will be done by the intelligence and counter terrorism forces that continue their vigilance. Consider, for a moment, this question: Which is worse, a gorilla rampaging in your back yard, or fire ants marauding below it? The fire ants, of course. One can take out the gorilla with a large stone to the head, or bullet to the heart. Taking out the fire ants is not so easy, and doing so requires a different strategy. Well, we’ve now knocked out the gorilla, and it’s time to switch to a different strategy for the ants.
Now, some may say that pulling out of Syria sends the wrong message to our enemies. I disagree. In fact I think I like the new message we’d be sending, in some ways, better than the old. The new message comes, really, in two parts:
1 Mess with us, and we will kill lots of you and decimate any land that you hold and any land that harbors you.
2 Leave us alone, however, and you can do anything the hell you want to do with your societies. You can devalue women, mete out brutal punishments, execute gays, marry off your children, WHATEVER. But don’t mess with us. If you do, it’s back to part #1.
Some may take umbrage at the second point, but I contend that that’s what our position SHOULD be. We are NOT the world’s policeman. That’s not our responsibility. If the world decides that the certain policies in Mid Eastern societies are abhorrent and repulsive and something MUST be done about them, then it is up to the United Nations to get up off their back sides and intervene. We would certainly participate in such a coalition if asked. But, in my opinion, it must be an international effort carried out under an international consensus, with conscripts from all nations. It must not be a primarily American operation and must not be “US led”.
Some will say that by abrogating our military role in the Mid East we would no longer be a “moral compass” for the world. That’s okay by me. If the world needs a moral compass, they can read a book on the topic. But, let’s not spill another drop of blood from our valiant young American soldiers in an effort to “teach” the world anything. They can figure it out themselves.