Is US intervention in Syria justified?

[fawwaxs]

 

[T-123456]

I dont see any intervention,so all this talk is a bit premature.

 

[Wholegrain]

I dont see any intervention,so all this talk is a bit premature.

The American government is definitely going to do something, it wouldn't have gone all this way to embarass itself by pulling out at the last minute. It would look like a massive joke if it did that and all its credibility would be gone.

I hope their plans don't rope in any neighbors of Syria into the war.

 

[Spring Onion]

The Question is why ONLY US has the right to intervene ? or decided attacking another country under UN banner ?

Why other big and small countries are not allowed to use the same justification ?

 

[doppelganger]

The Question is why ONLY US has the right to intervene ? or decided attacking another country under UN banner ?

Why other big and small countries are not allowed to use the same justification ?

Who is stopping the other countries, big or small, from intervening anywhere?

It is all boiling down to capability and ability. You will if you can. If you cannot, you will not. Or will join a coalition of forces.

 

[Spring Onion]

Who is stopping the other countries, big or small, from intervening anywhere?

It is all boiling down to capability and ability. You will if you can. If you cannot, you will not. Or will join a coalition of forces.

Bullying and unjustified state terror it is So NO justification question here.

 

[Juice]

US has many double standards, where was it when mustard gas was used against Iran by Iraq!
There are reports saying US actualy helped in those mustard gas attacks!

Unfortunately true. But you seem to imply that if you make a mistake....the best remedy is to keep making the mistake.

Who is stopping the other countries, big or small, from intervening anywhere?

It is all boiling down to capability and ability. You will if you can. If you cannot, you will not. Or will join a coalition of forces.

Absolutely. No one says Pakistan isn't allowed to intervene....

 

[Juice]

The American government is definitely going to do something, it wouldn't have gone all this way to embarass itself by pulling out at the last minute. It would look like a massive joke if it did that and all its credibility would be gone.

I hope their plans don't rope in any neighbors of Syria into the war.

Very true. During the first Gulf war I told my dad not to be so pessimistic...it would all blow over without a shot fired. My dad replied that we did not send all those troops and equipment to NOT have a war.

 

[Juice]

To all those who say "both sides don't like us" "not our business" "the rebels are worse". In many cases....correct. But this isn't about supporting one side or the other. I actually believe most Governments in the west and Israel hope Assad or his party at least hold on to some power....albeit in a weakened state. This is about the use of WMD's. (And no, I don't think the US, or any government is all that torn up about Syrian children). Since WWII we have managed NOT to have nukes thrown about willy-nilly. This is in large part due to psychological barriers against their use. Using any WMD erodes the barrier. First it's a little gas attack. Seems to work, maybe a bigger one. Soon, why not take out a city with them. Then a small step towards "well, a tactical nuke isn't that much worse....let's use that". A slippery slope. It has been widely reported that Assad has been using them on a small scale before....small enough that the world could turn a blind eye. This one got out of hand (or the rebels got some, no one knows yet, though most evidence would seem that one of Assad's small uses got out of hand). We need to keep the psychologic barriers in place....to delay the day when the nukes come out (it WILL happen some day...we can only hope to put it off, and make the consequences bad enough it doesn't happen again for a long time). And to those who say a blind eye has been turned in the past....past mistakes don't mean they should be repeated forever. By that logic....since we didn't wipe out disease 50 years ago....we should never do anymore medical research. (am neither Dem or Repub....tend toward conservative world-view, more liberal in domestic policy...which would get me hated by both...as they are major points of hatred for both parties) If this seems a little dis-jointed....I pasted it from an American forum I replied on.

 

[doppelganger]

Bullying and unjustified state terror it is So NO justification question here.

You are going the "moral outrage" route here. Who said anything about war being moral? All marital honor and morality was given its final gun salute in WWII - by all participants equally. You asked what was stopping other countries from intervening. I gave you a clear and practical answer. All actions have consequences. You will act if you can handle the consequences. Otherwise you will not. Simple.

Let me also speak up about what I feel is the general perception both in the US as well as the rest of the non-Muslim world. Syria is Muslims killing Muslims. The obvious first and more overpowering world (US and other non-Muslim countries - Western and otherwise) reaction should be "knock yourselves out." But the US remains the world's only superpower based on its strength and muscle and the willingness to deploy that.

Its all about perception. The US has an officially stated red line. Can it afford to backtrack from that? Fiscal and material and manpower prudence of a war weary nation would demand that it does. As has been voted by the UK. But then the US is not the UK. If it back off today, tomorrow there will be regimes across the world who will try their luck and push and keep pushing to see where the new limits are.

Today its Syria. Tomorrow it could be North Korea. Iran. Pakistan. Russia is playing to the gallery in a similar manner. It may no longer be a counterweight superpower. But make no mistake, militarily, its still the only one the US takes seriously. China does not as yet come even close.

 

[Juice]

That first comic is priceless!

 

[Juice]

@doppelganger
Agree with all you said, but would correct the death of moral outrage to WWI, that is when we all got numb to the image of piled bodies.

 

[doppelganger]

@doppelganger
Agree with all you said, but would correct the death of moral outrage to WWI, that is when we all got numb to the image of piled bodies.

@Juice I actually agree and disagree. Yes, WWI in scale was a close precursor to WWII. But in some of the tactics and the unspoken rules of conduct, there was still something old world war left in WWI. Troops against troops in long endless lines. Charges with bayonets and volley fire. That sort of thing. But WWI clearly left all sides wanting more. Nothing was solved and the protagonists merely paused for breath and to reload, before WWII came. And then all sides really went to town. Carpet bombing. Fire bombing. Of cities. Submarines. Night sorties. Pearl Harbor. The gulags and the SS. Stalingard. Nanking. Dresden and Tokyo. Burma. Iwo Jima. Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A new way of fighting the enemy was born. The concept of Total War.

 

[Juice]

Agree, there was still a little of the old gentlemen's version of war left. But by the end, mostly dead. Both sides in WWII had completely abandoned any pretense...and went whole-hog. We have been trying to back-pedal since then....with limited success. Soon warfare will be back to the "good old times"...kill all the males in the loser population....sell the women and children. (ps....this may seem strange....but I consider the likes of Dresden worse than Hiroshima. At least with Hiroshima you can make the argument, however spurious, that it saved lives on both sides)

 

[T-123456]

The Question is why ONLY US has the right to intervene ? or decided attacking another country under UN banner ?

Why other big and small countries are not allowed to use the same justification ?

Not allowed?
You mean :No balls to do it.
I would have wanted my country to at least create a bufferzone in Syria so the Syrians would still be in their country and be safe(if we look at what bad things happend in refugee camps with girls and women in various countries.