Report to NATO: 70% of Syrians support Assad [View all]

[Waiting For Everyman]

This is a big reason why I think we should stay out of Syria. (For those who can't or don't want to go to the link below, the percentage of the public opposed to Assad is estimated at about 10% right now.)

http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/05/31/nato-data-assad-winning-the-war-for-syrians-hearts-and-minds/

So we are outraged by these chemical attacks and mass killings, but apparently the Syrian public is not.

Even among that 10% opposition, some of them said that if the US attacks Assad, they too will actually switch sides, and fight on his side against us, because they will see it as defending their country under outside attack. (Wish I had saved the link to that statement but I didn't; it was in a linked article somewhere here on DU this past weekend.) I realize not all opposition may be feel that way, but I don't doubt that it's a real view among some.

When I saw that, it was a crystallizing moment to me, I thought "forget this, no way". We are far too hated there to get involved directly, and we should stay out of it. Syria is not Libya, and it is not the same as another nation might be some other time. I also didn't know until recently, because very little is being mentioned about it in the news, that the Saudis and Jordan and Dubai are assisting the rebels. If anything, we should be helping them in their efforts, and not acting directly ourselves. This is something that those in the local area should do, and it seems as if they are trying to.

Also, where is the pressure on Russia and China, Syria's friends, to do something to discourage Assad? For those who believe "looking bad" is a big thing, why don't we put a focus on making Russia look bad for doing nothing about this?

I agree that 100,000 dead and this use of chemical weapons warrants intervention, but not under these circumstances. There is no way that we should go into a situation in which we immediately become the enemy the moment we take action to help. This fight has to be won first by the Syrian people being outraged at Assad themselves, and next by sympathetic neighboring states.

There are indirect things we could do, and I think we should. But this is not our battle. Anyway that's one person's take on it.