Doubling down on my first comment

Submitted by Stonewall Jackson (Switzerland), Sep 1, 2013 at 12:39

In all these issues, one at all times should ask "Cui Bono?" and apply Occam's Razor instead of tired conspiracy theories.

Come on - as if former teachers and workers had an idea as to how to use/launch such weaponry.
Yep by all accounts, these rockets were fired by the Assad side into a rebel controlled area. Phones were intercepted which indicated that even Assad officials were surprised and hysterical about it and chewed subordinates out for their use of them. 1000 Syrian civilians on rebel side died. (how cynical must one be to even dare to assume that they would sacrifice >50 children to motivate the outside world to intervene), The vast majority of the rebels are no suicide bombers, but former Joe Schmoes, who most definitely would never sacrifice their own for such an uncertain goal. Come on, guys, if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, looks like a duck and tastes like a duck, it just might be one, or isn't it now?

The scenario of some sort of a lab experiment by the Iranians, testing our resolve does make a lot of sense. Syria is just the latest of their proxy wars. For decades now, they have led such a war on various fronts and against various infidel (western) targets. But, there are ample historical examples for exactly such behaviour. Hitler for instance did it, before launching several of his occupations. Every time the West blinked and he gobbled up another territory right after.

Hell, we all hate the idea of yet another military engagement. America is tired and war fatigued, beaten down by domestic problems and one scandal after another. The average US citizen does not care about the longterm strategic consequences. He cares about next month's ends meet. This year's taxes and health care cost and how to gas up the car to go to work. The attention span has been eroded by scandal after scandal and political spin and propaganda and nastiness and disrespect and attack after political attack. The US citizen asks rightfully, what in the heck we want in Syria, where there is no direct interest (oil, Homeland security etc.) at stake. More body bags from some desert bhole of the world? I can not and will not blame a majority of The American People for not seeing the big picture or apply history lessons. Their reactions are understandable and can not be faulted. But see, here's the thing - these situations force moments upon us, when a true leader is required, a leader who does see and understand the big picture and follows through, even if it may not be the popular thing to do at the very present. After all, when we elect a president, we do not elect just a chief -administrator/manager. We elect a president for precisely such situations, where the people for various reasons can and do not know everything there is to kno, hence do not have all the facts to make an informed decision. These are the moments a true leader will lead from the front and not from behind by framing the situations as openly as possibly and at times may take a decisions which may not be popular, albeit needed for the sake of America's future longterm safety, prosperity or (strategic, economical, human, intelligence or other )interests.

I strongly feel, historical contexts considered, and trying to distill some truth from a thousand news sources available, that America undoubtedly is on aa collision course with Iran, leading a jihaadist wave against us infidels and clearly not shying away from any means to destroy us. Too many similarities I can already see between now and the period of 1930 and beyond, where a fatigued West became appeasers and pacifists, enabling and empowering the most evil movement of the 20thst century. Hitler could, as we know now, have been stopped with minimal bloodshed - not just once, but many times before the fatal years of 1940. Ample voices supporting it (Churchill), albeit a majority of the people and politicians would not entertain, nor debate or discuss an impossible, incredible scenario. What should not possibly happen, as nobody in his right mind could possibly imagine it, could not and thus even informed, learned people stuck their heads into the sand of denial and thus later, what once was the possibility of a small slap on the wrist of Germany, became the slaughter of WWII.

Aren't we now in a similar situation? A rogue, tyrannical, oppressive, fanatical ideology rules in a nation of 100m people and marches towards the worst weapon of mass destruction ever conceived. And - as recent history has clearly demonstrated, those guys will undoubtedly die for their beliefs. Their mindset and fanaticism goes even deeper than found in Hitler's Waffen SS or GESTAPO, as here, as opposed to the National Socialists, there is a driving theocratic component, a religion, where suicide bombers become martyrs and martyrs take an express elevator to the penthouse (paradise) where 77 virgins wait....

Does it make sense, that the more we debate chem weapons in Syria, or bloviate about the war there and deplore 1.5m refugees and opine about some Al Quaeda factions fighting on the side of the Free Syrian Army, as if this splinter faction among all muslims had a million supporters instead of a few thousand..... the magician in Iran, aggressively developing the ultimate weapon (against us after all), wiggles his finger on the left, pointing our attention to Syria, while with the right hand enriching Uranium and building centrifuges and developing the corresponding delivery systems.... until it is too late.. ( or they believe it is)

As it happened in WWII, a conflict with IRAN, after it has the nuke, will be a bloodbath, compared to how we could arrest the development of the crisis now. While I will never blame the American People for their ignorance, all mitigating circumstances considered, I do blame this government and this president. They have all the intel. They know and yet, they chose to procrastinate, appease, delay and palaver along the true legacy of Chamberlain, the true guilty party for the misery of WWII. Deterrence works, as 70 years of such during the cold war has proven.

Does anyone think that the Hitlers of tomorrow have been deterred from using chem weapons or even a nuke? Isn't it tragic that one seemingly must have suffered during one of those ugly wars, understand directly and personally the misery of such in order to see the big picture? Yep - I know I am going to be hated here..... McCain again is one of the few who does understand the big picture and Americas real interests....

Anyone out there who has the audacity to call this man who knows the monstrosity, misery, pain and suffering of war better than any person on the globe alive today a "war monger" ? If not, what I would presume to be a vast majority here, why then, is this man calling for an extended tough engagement, decapitating the Assad regime?

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