 |
| Syria Location (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The ongoing war between government forces in Syria and the opposition rebel forces has cost the lives of tens of thousands of people on both sides and of those caught in the middle. Billions of dollars of damage has been done to the country while more billions have been spent in weaponry and other resources to kept the fight going. How many of the billions should be coming from the United States?
The Syrian government has been no great friend to the United States in the past, but it's highly questionable how many true friends to the western world can be found in the opposition forces. This is an internal conflict that has been fueled by the entrance of a melange of groups including radicals like Al-Qaeda. All of these movements of militant change want control and if they gain that control it's likely they will not be siding with the United States and its allies.
A power play is going on in the region with many nations stepping into the arena. The Syrian government is backed by Russia, China, Iran and the notorious Hezbollah. With support from the majority of Arab countries and others the rebels have managed to prolong this war for two years. In the end it may not matter initially to most of the world which side wins, but no matter what, the powder keg that is the Middle East is destined to explode in a big way. How much money should we invest in that?
So what's the scenario here? If the Syrian government regains complete hold on the country and ousts the rebels, Israel will be under the threat of Syria. If the rebels take over, then Israel will be under the threat of Syria. The bottom line in all of this is Israel--no surprise for anyone who has studied this history for the past 6000 years.
Personally, my solution is to take all the politicians who advocate supporting the rebels and issue them a weapon out of the government arsenal and ship them off to the Syrian border. John Kerry, John McCain, and all the others can take anyone else who wants to join in and at their own expense they can fight the war they want taxpayers to support. They'll have to buy their own ammo and supplies though. The weapons and transportation are as far as I want my tax dollars to go. It would be worth keeping all of this bunch busy over there so more sensible minds can stay to figure out how to spend tax dollars here at home where they're needed most. I think this group would make for a pretty small army as I don't think many Americans support this uprising in Syria.
Do you think the U.S.or any of its allies should be sending tax supported military aid to the Syrian rebels? Should we send our forces there to end the conflict? A victory from which side do you think would benefit the world most?
