Notes on the Conflict in Syria in Light of Current Events
I don't know who is responsible for the gas attack in Syria, but I am certain that the governmental responses will be the wrong ones no matter what. Governments are just criminal gangs writ large. It is just the Bloods and Crips or the Mafia families on a wider scale, nothing more. Only the religion of The State with its mythology, pageantry, and hymns leads you to believe otherwise. There are no "good guys" in this fight. Russia, the US, Assad's regime, and ISIS are all corrupt criminal organizations bent on domination through theft and murder.
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Missile strikes will only escalate the conflict. We will all be taxed to fund the new round of attacks by governments, and we all bear the risk of retaliatory terror attacks at home, with no benefit whatsoever. Meanwhile, civilians will continue to suffer and die. The anti-war left has re-emerged in the US after an 8-year hibernation, but we must take a principled stand based on the rights of individuals in opposition to the State rather than a knee-jerk reaction to Resident Rump. I don't see how a gas attack benefits the Assad regime, but Assad is not worthy of support whether ISIS or his own regime committed the attack. Russia's government is not a force for good, regardless of how well they oppose ISIS.
The blatant evil of ISIS does not excuse the evils of others in response. Trump's bombings are no different from Obama's bombings. Has everyone forgotten the saber rattling that went on for the past 8 years? Clinton would have been just as bloodthirsty, too. Take your partisan blame game and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. Stop trying to choose the lesser evil, and don't let patriotism, religion, or propaganda fool you into supporting one of these factions. No one in their right mind wants to see ISIS win, but that doesn't mean the false dichotomies we have been presented are worthy of consideration.
You can't please all the people all the time
"writ large!" lol i love it
Gotta get my Rothbard reader street cred in.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/trump-electronic-devices-tech-syria-situation-room?utm_source=mbfb
Yes indeed !!!
Don't be heatless
I'm not sure I understand your comment. I write in opposition to the belligerence that creates needless death and destruction. Support for warmongering is heartless. Assad, Putin, and Trump are all fueling the fires that ignited ISIS in the first place.
Pacifism is not the response to this action. Every nation in the world should be appalled and Assad should be tried for his crimes and brought to justice and anyone else responsible for these illegal gas attacks.
I am appalled by the crime of the gas attack. I am not persuaded Assad is the thug to blame for it, and I am appalled at the cruise missile strike debacle too. Don't fall for the politician's fallacy: "Something must be done, and we are doing something, so therefore we are doing what must be done."
Don't confuse skepticism for pacifism. I am a non-aggressionist, not a pacifist, but that requires a far higher degree of certainty before action to avoid compounding one crime by committing another.
Let's set aside my anarchistic opposition to all governmental aggression though, and I'll put on my minarchist dunce cap for a moment. A missile strike against a sovereign nation is an act of war. Trump committed an act of war without Congressional approval. The UN was created specifically to address matters such as this gas attack, and no investigation has been made by any official channels. The US intel community is notorious for going off half-cocked in an effort to in the blame on someone. This strike is inexcusable.
EDIT
How timely. @badquakerdotcom just re-posted a series of podcasts on the history of US wars, describing how every single one was sold to the public through lies and propaganda to excuse governmental aggression.
I never defended the missile attack, in fact I think it was a rather lame response. I think there needs to be a public trial and if Assad is found guilty he must be hung along with any of his generals who gave the order. If it wasn't Assad who was it Isis doesn't have those weapons if they did we'd all be in deep shit.
I'm not sure it was Sarin. If it was a different gas, such as chlorine or Phosgene, availability is less of an issue. There have also been reports that this was fallout from an earlier strike against a weapons depot causing the accidental release of gasses from stored chemicals - perhaps weaponized, perhaps not.
If there needs to be a trial, isn't that the alleged purpose of the UN? It's not 'MURKA's job to be judge, jury, and executioner regardless of precedent.