Syria, Just Say No

Many on the right are being called hypocrites for supporting Iraq under President Bush, but not supporting President Obama about Syria.  There is some truth to that.  Just as there was Bush Derangement Syndrome, Obama Derangement Syndrome exists as well.  The problem is that both sides are being hypocritical about it.  Barbara Boxer and President Obama were both very loud in their disagreement about going into Iraq.  Hussein used chemical weapons on the Kurds.  Those people are just as dead.  But the outrage was totally different, another party had The White House when that happened.  So needless to say politicians are doing what they do, playing politics.

The American citizens are the ones that are left to wonder what is really going on,  We obviously can't trust the politicians to do what is right for the country because they are busy being just that and playing partisan party games.  We don't get to see the intelligence.  We only get parts of the story.  So we are left to wonder what is true, what the real threats are, was it Assad that really used the WMD's or was it the resistance making it look like Assad did it to draw international outrage?

Now, the UN is feckless and useless.  I have known that for years.  Russia and China could care less and for whatever reason they feel it is in their best interests to vote no at any security council meeting that could put useless sanctions on the Assad regime or send in peace keepers, or weapons inspectors, or whatever useless thing that they would do.  So as usual the world is looking to the U.S. to solve the problems.

Well you know what, just say no.  I am sick to death of the U.S. getting forced into handling these things when all we get in return is blame and more hatred from the Muslim world.  I am not even going to get into the costs of this, because human rights shouldn't be looked at in dollars and cents.

France is all too willing to say hey we will help you out U.S.  I am sure they are willing to send about five troops and say that they are helping to protect human rights.  As soon as it gets messy they will turn tail and run as long as they know the U.S. is there.

The Muslim world has told us over and over again we need to mind our business and stop telling them how to live their lives.  Well Arab League stand up and handle your darn problems then and leave us out of it.  The Saudi's have a military that includes an airforce, let them go drop some bombs on Assad.

It will be the same old song and dance.  The U.S. bullies trying to tell the rest of the world what to do.  You know what, screw you and the camel you rode in on.  Take care of your own damn problems for once in your lives.

I have come to the very sad conclusion that for whatever reasons, the Middle East and the Muslim world is not ready for "freedom".  Look at Iraq.  After all the blood, sweat, tears, treasure, and lives we gave to the citizens of that country to give them a chance to choose their own destiny they are on the brink of a civil war.  We gave that country close to ten years to get their s*&t together and form the infrastructure necessary to rule themselves.  It is being thrown all away based on century old vendettas and tribal nonsense.  You want to stay in the dark ages, go ahead.  I am through caring about your problems.

Now I would really respect President Obama if he got up and said some of this.  Tell France, go ahead, you handle this one.  Tell the Arab League, you want us to butt out of your business, OK, take care of it.  Remove Assad, by any means that you see fit.  But that won't happen.  France would run if we said that, and the Arab League is just as useless as the U.N.  is.  They talk a good game, but they are just as feckless.

Using chemical weapons on your own people is a crime against humanity.  It violates international law set into place after the first world war.  It is a tragedy.  I feel for the people of Syria, I really do.  But if we were smart, we them let be and sort it out for themselves.  There is no good outcome that is in the interests of the United States.  If Assad stays we get the status quo.  If he goes we end up with an equally, if not even more,  hostile government to its own people, Israel, and of course to us.  Why bother?

Obama would show true leadership if he just admits the truth.  The French are not willing to do what it really takes to stop Assad, the rest of the world is not even willing to give it lip service, and the Arab League isn't going to do anything except of course blame the U.S. when it goes bad.   Lets save everyone the time and the trouble.  If the leaders in the Middle East want to act like barbarians, let them.  Maybe they will finally kill themselves off.

Let's Party

President Obama is packing his bags for trip to the Middle East. A major speech on American and Middle East relations will take place in Cairo. More accurately, the relations between the US and Islamic nations. As we know the President’s father was a Muslim and he spent time in Indonesia during his childhood. In the eyes of Islam, he is a Muslim. If your father is Muslim you are automatically one. The fact that he became a Christian as an adult is of no consequence. In the eyes of Shariah law he is actually marked for death. Converting to another faith is punishable by death. President Obama believes that he is the person that will be able to bring our two different worlds to a better understanding of one another.

I am sure the moderates in the Middle East could care less about his faith. The problem is the moderate voices in that region get drowned out almost entirely. Indeed, damage control is needed for the U.S. in the Muslim world. We are not very well viewed in that part of the world. We are looked at as aggressors, propping up dictators, greedy and the list goes on. All of these views have been going on for decades if not longer. It seems that we can’t win for losing in that region of the world.

A portion of the speech is expected to be on peace between Israel and Palestine. Personally, I doubt that will happen in my lifetime. Until Hamas and Hezbollah are willing to recognize Israel, peace will never exist, and they certainly don’t seem willing to do that at this time. Especially if we continue to train the Palestinian military in Jordan, we are just giving them additional incentive to hold off on peace to see if they can beat down the Israelis. It is indeed a laudable goal, but a pipe dream for now. The message is going to be that we are not at war with Islam. But we need to keep in mind that parts of Islam are at war with us.

A weekend party at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad certainly will not help the President. It was a costume party with a gay theme. The party goers were encouraged to come in drag or dressed as your favorite gay icon. Secretary Clinton has made it her mission to spread the word that the US views gay rights as a human rights issue. Which in this country, it is an acceptable part of life. We may have issues, but nothing compared to what goes on in the Middle East. Homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment, flogging, or death. It is not at all acceptable in the Muslim world. The gay population in this part of the world stays very much in the closet.

This party did not go unnoticed on some Anti-American websites. A post from Sheikh Abu Abdur-Rahman Atiatullah released a statement calling Americans: “criminal, homosexual, shameless, dissolute people, worshippers of lusts and Satan.” Some websites that are, at minimum, friendly towards terrorists made mention of this party accompanied by words of Muhammad, talking about the death penalty for homosexuals.

Having a party for people living in a war zone is a great thing. The people in Iraq are working in very trying circumstances and are under constant stress. Blowing off some steam is a very healthy thing. But we are in a foreign country that has a totally different set of mores and values than we do. The Islamic world is much more conservative than we are. It is imperative that we understand that we need to respect those values. It doesn’t matter if we agree with them or not.

In less than one week we throw a party in an Islamic nation that offends the sensibilities of the culture, then we give a major speech in which we say how we embrace other cultures and how we want to enjoy good relations. These two things are diametrically opposed to one another. One of the things that is mentioned in the 9/11 commission report was our failure of imagination. How much imagination does it take to realize that we look like we are talking out of both sides of our collective mouth?