CNN poll: Public against Syria strike resolution

reply to post by wildtimes

My problem isn't whether Assad gassed his own people or not, it's whether this goes to the UN. To me that's the elephant in the room and it needs to be worked out. The UN needs to be functional.

I would not want to send the message that if Assad is guilty then we do nothing. I'd want to send the message that if we do something we do it through the UN, unless it's a direct threat to our country. But no matter what anybody thinks, our leadership can NEVER make perfect choices. The fog of war will always prevent that. So we do have to have some level of trust in our leadership, regardless of the outcome.

The difference with 9/11 and the gas attack in Syria is that 9/11 happened on our soil. The tricky thing with 9/11 was who to blame it on? We ended up in military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, but even today those actions are questioned. I disagreed with Operation Iraqi Freedom, but I can't expect perfect choices or perfect outcomes. Nonetheless, it was an attack on our soil that set it off.

I'm not military. My gut reaction is to always disagree with military engagements. However, since the US does have the most robust and funded military in the world, we WILL eventually use it. What I want to see is more cooperation between nations in the UN to avoid unilateral actions. I believe that unilteral actions are only justified in certain situations and they're a negative factor in international relations. Unilateral actions send the message you don't want input from others and will do things on your own.

NOTE: Operation Enduring Freedom was started in response to 9/11 and we went to Afghanistan to dismantle the Taliban which ruled 90% of the country and was predominantly Al-Qaeda. At the time, there was a civil war and the Taliban was winning and had managed to gain most of the country.

reply to post by wildtimes


There are some arguments out there that this has become more about him saving face than the initial intended purpose. It was actually said "this resolution is going to pass after we work this" (Whitehouse chief of staff Denis McDonough). Ego is running this country (or several egos). We know what too much of this does to the individual but to see it allowed to take over Washington is astounding.

reply to post by jonnywhite

Unilateral actions send the message you don't want input from others and will do things on your own.

And that's the message he was sending - and still may be - and it's WRONG. He is not GOD, he HAS to cooperate with the rest of the world.

Just ask Kim Jong Un, or Hitler.... or Napoleon...

It's asinine for Obama to do this. YES, I care about the people of Syria. Is it our business? NO! Especially if the rebels are wanting to install Sharia Law into a secular country - NO!!
Did you watch the video I posted? Very astute young lady there....
FAR more persuasive than any Imam or War monger. Honestly, I'm starting to think Assad is NOT the culprit here - the Islamists have killed THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of people - all for their "religion."
HELPING THEM is ridiculous.

My opinion.
I'm not military either, nor am I Syrian, nor Muslim or Christian. Yes, it's awful that those people were gassed - but it's no MORE AWFUL than 9/11 of 2001. It's only HALF as awful, in terms of numbers of dead innocents.

The Middle East is a horrible place, from what I can tell.