Report: US may be forced to 'militarize' Syria crisis

[sinkingfeeling]

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/09/10359773-report-us-may-be-forced-to-militarize-syria-crisis

Updated 9:55 a.m. ET: The U.S. does not want to "militarize the situation" in Syria, but fears this may be unavoidable, according to a report citing an un-named State Department official.

"We definitely don’t want to militarize the situation. If it’s avoidable, we are going to avoid it. But increasingly it looks like it may not be avoidable,” the official if reported to have said.

Observers agree that outright Western military intervention in Syria is unlikely as such a mission would be more difficult and risky than last year's operation in Libya. Its complex geography and ethnic mix make the removal of President Bashar Assad's regime difficult, and one option could be to arm rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army.

[razorman]

1. Is Syria doing anything to us directly? If not, we should stay the hell out.

We have been interfering in places and situations for spurious reasons, for many years. From Bosnia, right on up through Iraq, Libya and Egypt, we keep sticking our nose where it does not belong. If they are not harming us or our interests, then the internal conflicts of a third-world pest-hole are none of our business.

[marybourg]

3. And we have no interest

in (reportedly) 5000 people being killed? What if it had been 5000 puppies? In that case, I KNOW DU would be up in arms.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Moral dilemma. For the cost of preventing another xxxx number of people from

being killed there, we could provide $$$$ to prevent the deaths of how many people here? Think of the almost $1 trillion in military spending we've done in the past decade and how that money could have paid for homes, food, and health care here.

And how many people have died (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central America, etc.) has a result of using our military might for 'good intentions'?

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. "And how many people have died ?"

Let's look, shall we..

Population of Iraq: 30 million.
Number of Iraqis who died of violence 2003-2011: depends on who is counting.

Wiki says 109,032 deaths including 66,081 civilian deaths.

Iraq Body Count Web site, which actually tracks names, says:........105,052 — 114,731 civilian deaths as a result of the conflict.
Over 162,000 civilian and combatant deaths

Orphans in Iraq: 4.5 million.

Orphans living in the streets: 600,000.

Number of women, mainly widows, who are primary breadwinners in family: 2 million.

Iraqi refugees displaced by the American war to Syria: 1 million

Internally displaced persons in Iraq: 1.3 million

anyone who wants to count up the other wars we have been involved in, here is a good site:


Statistics of Wars, Oppressions and Atrocities of the Twenty-First Century
http://necrometrics.com/warstatx.htm#h

[Nuclear Unicorn]

9. For what we spent on the bank bailouts we could have funded

a full-surge Iraq and Afghan wars for 7 and a half decades. I think even the Pentagon would have shared that much with us.

[EX500rider]

6. "Is Syria doing anything to us directly?"

Pretty sure there were few if any American Jews in the death camps but that was hardly a reason to try and prevent the slaughter.
Or was that "none of our business" too?

[razorman]

10. Point taken. But we did not enter WW2 until we were attacked.

Most Americans were unaware of the death camps until our forces liberated them as a side-effect of driving back the Nazis. Of course, by the logic of using such horrendous actions as a reason to invade a country, then our invasion of Iraq was fully justified. After all, Saddam Hussein was committing mass murder among his own people. The Bush administration certainly used it as an excuse. But, I think that most of us on this board wold agree that the Iraq war was unnecessary.
Heck, if abusing one's countrymen by slaughter or death camps justified invasion, we would be attacking half the countries in Africa and the Middle East. It is too bad that there are no hard and fast rules for such decisions. I am just glad that I don't have that responsibility.

[gratuitous]

2. The only tool we know how to use is a hammer

Fortunately, every problem the world situation presents looks like a nail. It's an amazing and lucky coincidence.

[Lawlbringer]

5. Militarize means sending troops?

As a police action?

[woo me with science]

7. K&R

Here we go again.

[woo me with science]

11. Kick

[inna]

12. "forced"

unbelievable.

[Canuckistanian]

13. "forced"? So they're admitting they can't help themsleves?

Well, that's the first step in admitting you have a problem, I guess.

[woo me with science]

14. Kick