The World leaders have made it clear, some things can't be tolerated..
If it can be proven, really PROVEN, that he used WMD gas, I have no problem with sending arms to Syria...........but just one, through his window!
Jim, what's the end game and exit strategy? Who are we arming? What's the plan past the current news cycle? Aside from facilitating more killing, what does a couple of thousand small arms do to change any of this? By all accounts the Syrian uprising has devolved to factional chaos and it is entirely likely that whatever arms we distribute will be used at some point against us or our allies.
Having been "touched" by a certain civil war in Southeast Asia a while back, history has repeated thought that unless you are in it to win it, stay the hell out of it. And no, you can't win other people's civil wars. The administration is simply playing with activities with no clarity on outcomes, a recipe for disaster. Mr. Obama overplayed his hand with the "Red Line" comment he couldn't back up and we look impotent as a result but so what?
Assad is an evil guy that as recently as 2011 Secretary of State Clinton told “Face the Nation” viewers that the US would not interfere in Syria because Assad was a “reformer.”
Now we're stuck like we are elsewhere in Africa and Southwestern Asia except this time the regime has nuclear allies that are more strong willed than we are. We neither have the will or the resources to take on Mr. Assad and his allies that include Russia, Iran, and now Hezbollah. You tell me how sending small arms and even a no fly zone secures the vast chemical (and possibly biological) weapons Mr. Assad has at his disposal. There is credible evidence that the Iraqi chemical arsenal is also part of Mr. Assad's munitions. We're talking thousands of tons of the stuff. Are the rebel factions any less likely to use them should they come to power? Does anybody think there won't be murderous reprisals whoever prevails?
Like Vietnam, we fumbled the opportunity to intervene early enough to affect a durable solution and this, like many of our other adventures, our best efforts will simply replace one murderous regime with another.
Given the recent turn of events, it appears Mr. Assad may pull this one out and then what??
As much as it pains me to say it, I actually agree with Jeff on this one. We're in over our heads as it is without any more internal interventions. If somebody invades an ally such as Israel, then it would be a different story.
