http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/02/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
Summary:
This article starts by saying that NATO needs evidence in the Syrian chemical weapons attack, and that other nation will not take action, or will only act if the U.S. acts. The decision to attack was put on Obama, and Obama wanted to wait for conclusive evidence that the Syrian government was behind the Sarin attack on their own citizens. We will not know too much more on the decision to attack or not until September 9th when Congress has the final decision. Syria continues to insist they are not behind the Sarin attack, while U.S. officials say the evidence is overwhelming. They claim to know exactly what the attack used (Sarin Gas), Where the rockets launched came from, Who launched them, Where they landed, the damage it caused, etc. Russia on the other hand claims that the 'conclusive evidence' that Syria used the Sarin is not proven in any way. The Russian foreign Minister says that the U.S. has no factual evidence (Other than it was indeed Sarin gas) that Syria launched the missiles, and that when they ask for any of the factual evidence, the U.S. replies with it's Vietnam-Esq response of it being classified information. U.S. Warships are already positioning on the Red Sea, and the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Nimitz is there for support. (This is the same carrier that Bush commissioned shortly after the 2003 war on Iraq, also the worlds first Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier). The Syrian military responded by hacking the U.S. Marines main website, and writing that 'Obama wants to assist Al-Qaeda' and trying to convince Marines to join the Syrian army. There are reports that Sarin has been used in the past, by both the Syrian regime, and the rebels, but nothing on this scale.
My Opinions:
In my opinion, I think that Obama made the right decision to hold off on attacking Syria. I think that if Obama had preemptively struck Syria like Bush did in Iraq, we would have possibly had another pointless war. I believe that the use of Sarin gas is an awful weapon for any form of warfare. Sarin gas is considered a WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction) so already, whoever used it, violated both the rules of the Geneva Convention and the CWC (Chemical Weapons Convention) meaning that there will be serious repercussions on the people that launched the missiles. If the Syrian government is proven to have launched it, it is almost guaranteed that there will be a war, and there needs to be, as the use of Sarin gas alone justifies any reason for war. In 2003, Bush started a war against the Taliban in Iraq, by stating that Saddam Hussein had WMD's. There were no WMD's found for Saddam Hussein's use, and there were reportedly only a handful of Chemical Weapons, which are at the early stages of being decommissioned. If this was enough reason to go to war in Iraq, then the actual use of WMD's in Syria is instantly a more important war than the 2003 Iraq war. In terms of the 'conclusive evidence' that it was the Syrian government, I would have to agree with Russia. Saying "We know who did it" and not saying "This is the reason that justifies how we know" means absolutely nothing. The only thing that makes me think it was indeed the Syrian government is their attempt to sway the Marines, calling Obama a terrorist. That seems like one of the most counter-productive way I've ever heard of to try and stop an attack. It's like going to Russia in the 1940's and saying "Stalin is a Fascist, now who wants to join the Wehrmacht?" The problem I have with the war on Syria is that if we go to war with them, some of the rebels are indeed members of Al-Qaeda, and helping them win control of Syria can't possibly end well. Also if we go to war in Syria, we have to lessen the amount of soldiers we have in South Korea, leaving a vulnerability for the weakening North Koreans to break the armistice and reignite the Korean War. (The Korean war never ended, there was just an Armistice agreement ((Cease Fire))). Overall, I think the Syrian government needs to be punished for the war crime they have committed (As I said, the Marines website thing makes me believe it was the Syrian Government 100%), but we need to approach the situation intelligently, as it could turn into another World War if we don't. (The nations involved currently if we go to war right now would be something like: U.S. and France, possibly Great Britain depending on if their Parliament changes their mind on what to do again, VS, Syria, Russia, and China. this could turn into more nations as the war might cause the distraction to add the two Koreas on opposing sides, and that would also most likely add Japan (who isn't allowed to have an army, just a defense force. I say it's more of America recognizing that Japan was one of the most hard fought enemies we've ever fought, and we don't want to risk the possibility of losing a war to them if one ever broke out.) and possibly Cuba/Vietnam (Since them and N. Korea are all still communist.) This is only my idea of what could happen though, and all of this revolves around Syria.
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