Syria - 6-2-2013

The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy!

H. L. Mencken, Notes on Democracy, 1926

The single greatest fighting force for freedom in the history of the planet is the United States military. It is the defender of democracy, an example of a free people willing to give their all to defend liberty.

It must never be used as a chip in an inane political argument on foreign policy.

Yet that is exactly what is happening in the debate on what the United States should do with respect to the ongoing civil war and accompanying atrocities in Syria.

Our elected are playing fast and loose with both history and the truth, hoping to garner short term political advantage when they discuss the options available, from the absurdity of President Obamas’ ‘red line’ comments, to Senator McCain’s urging for military intervention.

It is obvious that there is a human tragedy unfolding at the hands of a sadistic dictator, a man willing to sacrifice his people in horrific ways in an effort to maintain his control over the nation.

It may be the most glaring current example of a people in distress, but it is not the only one.

The United States is not the world’s policeman –we should not and must not impose our views of political governance on the world.

We can lead by example, demonstrating that self rule democracy is the optimal way for a society to grow and flourish but once we become the arbiters of other nations form of government by injecting the United States military into any given conflict we are continuing down the road to our ruin.

It is not an issue of isolationism; that is impossible in the interconnected world in which we live.

It is an issue that our military is a defensive organization: if the United States is attacked, we will surely unleash the powerful swift sword to the aggressor and vanquish them in short order.

The idea that somehow America should send troops to intervene in struggles around the world should be anathema to this nation. We lead by example, not by coercion.

For any who might demand that we cannot sit ‘idly’ by while Syria continues to spiral downward, the question then becomes given the scope of the American military’s abilities, why do we not simply put into place worldwide democratic self-rule? The power of our armed forces far surpasses any other in the world, so could we not impose planetary peace by sheer force?

There would be no need for a United Nations, an organization currently so inept at anything it boggles the mind.

Specifically as to Syria, where exactly is the unified outrage in the United Nations, voices condemning the actions of the Assad government and calling for United Nations forces to intervene?

The military of this nation was conceived to be under civilian leadership precisely to keep it as a defensive organization, not as an offensive tool for societal dominance of this or any other sovereign nation.

Once America heeds the ignorant calls for intervention in places such as Syria we will cease to be a beacon of hope and transform ourselves into yet another empire doomed to fall under its own hubris into the forgotten passages of time.

The United States of America is not an occupying force.

There is unimaginable pain in the world. We will best serve those who suffer by remaining true to our Constitution, to preserving the belief that freedom is the true solution to the woes of our world.