Syria...a Symptom of a Far Greater Disease

I 

Within Syria  

 

                                                                       

 A fascinating week, though by no means a description the Syrian people would share or appreciate. In the background are the falling dominoes of perhaps the more progressive, educated tiers in the ever-developing world. Countries that have in some ways embraced the Western economic model at a time when the model has fallen into the hands of the brigands and raiders...and the rolling rock that is a one-sided globalization where personal initiative and the labor of the individual has been degraded far beyond the cost of doing business. Yes, behind all the zealous voices, the religious sectarianism, the old grudges, lies a world economic system that has become the spoiler of personal ambition...an unseen, heavily veiled stealer of dreams.  If you look carefully; behind the angry eyes, the clenched fists...the man in the street brandishing that weapon could be you. This is what happens when an emerging middle class cannot meet the aspirations they hold for their children. And fueling them are the religious and cultural fanatics that are more than willing to plow that anger into violence.  And yes, Hitler was not an anomaly by any means.  They sprout like daffodils in the spring when the ambitions of the individual are sacrificed for a the seat on the throne.

II

                                      Outside Syria                                                         

                        

Britain says no, Israel says 'no thanks,' Turkey is highly distracted on the home front -- The Arab League late to the game and impotent it would seem. France with perhaps the will, but not the stamina to go it alone. Russia's Putin, still stuck in the Cold War.  And the American President, reluctant as he should be -- credit due for at least recognizing the failures of this option in the recent and ongoing suffering delivered by the policies of previous administrations who chose the gun over the voice of reason -- granting that most of the world has given up on reason anyway.  But then the caveat appears:  toss it to Congress, the same group that has fought loudly and bitterly to defeat every proposal this president has put on the table, while simultaneously screaming to the rafters about the abuse of power by the executive branch...a trend that has really gone on for the last 40 years -- the result of a Congress more interested in self-serving politics than doing the job they were hired to do.
I imagine that was a very unexpected move by the President, but in many ways, one that a democratic republic has always demanded, often ignored and suffered equally by those very inaction's.  I seriously doubt that most presidents do not consider the ramifications of setting the armed forces loose when the avenues of diplomacy fail.  Particularly in these third-party, distant divorces left over from an era of colonial and imperialistic ambitions -- of which the western and old eastern rivalries actually set in motion decades, even centuries ago.  But then history in this country seems to last about 20 years before it is revised, re-packaged or simply forgotten...along with the untended graves -- the collateral damage of the faces and lives that once walked an earth they simply called home.
So now Congress gets to share the mirror that peers into the soul -- the regions the eyes seek to deceive.  The rare chance to place their finger on the trigger of righteous indignation...to smote the animal that carries the disease of all humankind.  Yes, the enemy is us and the children will pay the price, continue the game...fill the graves reserved for all the bystanders in the long and violent history of this planet.  So jump in the sandbox, you boys and girls of Congress.  It is familiar ground after all.  Only this time instead of merely paralyzing the nation and lining your pockets, you get to take it full circle:  your vote now represents the errant bullet behind the mask of a purely partisan will.  So enjoy the moment...you haven't earned it, but you sure as hell deserve it.

III

Pragmatism vs. Idealism

 

And that is perhaps the conundrum of today's rather unbalanced balance of power. Sure, smote the despot, ride that white horse, but then what?  The question for the interventionist to ponder -- before the righteous fist first strikes is, "Is who has a stake here?"  As in the case of North Korea's last round of belligerence, the answer was China.  The PRC, as the major supplier of goods (oil and food), has the leverage to step all over North Korea's Jung.  A conflict on the Korean peninsula could have disastrous consequences for China/US relations -- compromising an already tenuous economic relationship, i.e., bad for business. 

 

In Syria's case, the only real outside influence lies in Moscow; a case where some of the obsolete Cold War alliances could still prove useful.  America has no friends, no traction and certainly no business in another middle eastern country, where the regional balance of power has already been irreversibly damaged by the same kind of meddling proposed here.  It is a domestic dispute and as any cop will tell you -- when the police show up -- all parties turn on them.  Much of the unrest, unhappiness, animosity...however you call it -- has deep roots in the history of colonialism and imperialism shoved down the regions throat for over a century.  And there are deep economic strains driving the unrest. Sadly, this is a process of adjustment, a leveling of a false reality and it is and will be costly -- in lives, in dislocations, in resources.  And it will take a generation to remake the face of all these countries.  They need time, compassion, aid...not another gun in the room.