Category Archives: War

North Carolina Take On Syria

Syria is all the news.  Lot’s of folks don’t know what to do.  And I’m not saying that being from Syria allows greater clarification, but do think that hearing what Triangle residents from Syria have to say is enlightening:

Raleigh, N.C. — While the world weighs a military strike against Syria, the Syrian community in Raleigh is watching, waiting and hoping the world will step in to remove President Bashar Assad.

Khalila Sabra, who works with Syrian refugees, has seen the effects of Syria’s civil war firsthand. She calls Assad a butcher.

“He’s committing genocide, and the world is just standing by and watching it happen,” Sabra said Thursday.

Sabra and the Islamic Association of Raleigh have been gathering medical supplies and donations to send to the refugee camps on Syria’s borders. More than 2 million Syrians have fled to Lebanon and Jordan, and as many as 200,000 people have died in the civil war, she said.

“I would like to see Bashar al Assad removed by any means necessary,” she said. “I know that Americans have grown weary of war because of Afghanistan and Iraq, but our moral compass demands that we do something about Syria.”

Bilal Kanawati, who emigrated to the U.S. from Syria after high school, still has family in Damascus. He said he wasn’t surprised to hear about a chemical attack in his homeland.

“He’s done it before, and I’m sure he will do it again if we don’t stop him,” Kanawati said of Assad.

“It’s not political right now. It’s just to stop the massacres,” he said. “(Assad) is killing several hundreds everyday in Syria and the silence of the world is killing them more because nobody is acting because Syria is not an oil-producing country.”

No surprise that Assad is a butcher.  But no mention of a reasonable replacement either.

Musings On Syria

Syrian Flag

Syria.

What are we supposed to do?

First, I’m relatively more hawkish than the Left or my Libertarian brothers.  When the time comes for the use of force, I’m very alright with using that force and then walking away – the walking away part is the hard part.  But here in Syria, we have such a different set of circumstances.

First, there are no “good guys” in the fight.  To be sure, there are innocent civilians being impacted in horrible horrible ways, but the aggressive actors are all rotten – we have no natural ally in the field.  Given this, by attacking Syria, we are, by definition, helping Al Qaeda.

Frankly, when asked who we would root for in a war between Syria and Al Qaeda, the only sane answer is “Casualties”.

Second, if a state uses chemical weapons, the line has been crossed and distinct action must take place.  The world is no place for nation states, complete with well functioning chains of command, to be using chemical weapons.  Against an enemy or against its own citizenry.

Good guy or bad guy – that cannot go unpunished.

Which brings me to my third point.  There is no rational reason for the Assad regime to carry out a chemical attack against his own people.  Those that hate him, already do.  And those that support him, again, already do.  There is nothing to gain by the mass murder of that many innocent people.

Assad surly must know that America would strike.  That we would take action and react to that red line.  And that if he was faced with using chemical weapons, it must be in a case that NOT using them was worse than the repercussions OF using them.

And I don’t see a compelling argument that Assad took any advantage by the use of that chemical strike.

I’m sure that a crime against humanity has been committed.  And I’m sure that someone must be held accountable for this crime.  I just don’t think that America should act as the world’s police force and rush to judgement -and sentencing- of this particular crime.

Let the UN handle it.

And you know what?  It would seem that elements of the Left agree with me!

This time, maybe the Obama administration isn’t about to launch cruise missiles against Syria. Maybe there’s still time to prevent it. Right now, those risking their lives on the ground to help the Syrian people are the UN inspectors. If the United States is really concerned about their safety, and recognizes the legitimacy of UN inspectors, the Obama administration should immediately engage with the UN leadership and with the Syrian, Russian and other relevant governments to insure their safety while they continue their crucial efforts. Cruise missiles will make that work impossible. What’s needed now is tough diplomacy, not politically motivated military strikes that will make a horrific war even worse.

I’m not one to source The Nation, but go read Bennis’ article – worth the time.

Bush And Obama: Killing vs. Torture

I was listening to my 2nd favorite talk show host, Jason Lewis, on the way to Charlotte last night.  During his show, he mentioned the news concerning the killing of Al Qaeda’s #2 guy.  I’ll get to Mr. Lewis’ main point in a second, it has to do with the double standard in the war on terror.  But first, I wanna more fully clarify my stance on “enhanced interrogation techniques”, oftentimes known as “torture.”

As I type this it strikes me as possible that people hear “enhanced interrogation techniques” in the same way that I hear “kinetic military action.”

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Libyan Consequences

I’m all for two things regarding Libya:

  1. The fall of the Colonel.
  2. Free people exercising Liberty.

In respect to those two things; Libya is a positive so far.  And I’m glad, I think, that we assisted in the struggle.

However, there is circulating a draft constitution for the new, as of yet formed, government.

Part I Article I?

Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).

I’m kinda not so down with the whole “established religion” thang.  I bet the Left isn’t either.

What gives?

Bin Laden: How Did It Begin

I think that taking a suspected criminal into custody and slamming his fingers in th desk drawer to find out who the murderer is is okay.

I think that keeping a suspected terrorist awake for 48 hours in order to get him to tell me where the other terrorists are is is okay to.

The Left doesn’t.

Whatever.

The latest fabrication of the Left is Rumsfeld and his “view” that enhanced interrogation methods don’t work.

Let’s see what he says:

Sounds like Rumsfeld is clear.

“Unquestionably it works … It produced an enormous amount of very very valuable intelligence information.”

I’m not sayin’ – I’m just sayin’

And Cut In 3 – 2 – 1 …..

Okay, so, Obama decided that we had to support the Western coalition that wanted to offer air cover to the rebels in Libya.  I think I’m alright with that.  I remain okay with that even though I have friends who are against that very action.

However, we sent our dog into that fight with the explicit expectation that we were gonna simply remove the ability of the government mow down it’s people using airplanes and helicopters.

More and more we are seeing the scope of the mission increase until finally today we see this:

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

I don’t like Obama, never have.  However, I have tried to find aspects of his governing that I can accept; Libya was one.  But by signing these secret orders I can’t defend his actions.  I can’t say that he is acting with that “global coalition” that gave him some moral standing.

If you wanna take out a leader of a corrupt State – have at it.  Just say it.  Plain and simple.  So simple that maybe even a real  life guy in Texas could understand.

My Take On Libya

We’re pushing two weeks now in the US involvement in Libya.  I’ve tried to resist from commenting on the situation because I really wanted to make sure my opinion was more my thoughts and feelings rather than a partisan message surrounding Obama.

I’m not going to get into the constitutionality of what took place.  I’m convinced that either:

  1. It IS constitutional
  2. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t

Either way, we’re over there and involved.  For better or for worse.

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For Better For Worse

Look, I get it.  Some of us are okay with military action in order to protect our interests.  Others, not so much.

Some folks would like the US to lead in International affairs.  Again, others would rather we took a more passive role and involve ourselves only insomuch as we are part of a larger coalition.

Be that as it may, we are seeing, and will continue to see, how a world reacts with America acting as a partner, not a leader.

As an aside, I am curious.  Can anyone describe the substantial difference in Libya breaking one single UN resolution that makes force okay while Iraq breaking multiple UN resolutions did not justify force?

{More} Awesome Reporting

I’m on a roll.

First it was the crack reporting out of the NY Times.  Good stuff.

Then, yesterday we have Reuters joining in on the fun.

Today?  Reuters is back at it.

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Awesome Reporting

So, I pointed out yesterday that reporters aren’t very good at reporting.

And then, just today, they’re back at it:

Reuters) – A Somali-born teenager was arrested on Friday for attempting to detonate what he thought was a car bomb at a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Oregon, officials said.

The whole article is 457 words.

Number of times the reporters referrenced his religion?  Zero.

Number of times the word Muslim appeared?  Zero.

Number of times the word Islam appeared?  Zero.

Serious.