Sunday, September 08, 2013

Is there a better response to genocide or maybe there is no good response

I haven't said much about Syria recently as it seems to me like it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. There may be nothing we can do, but watch as people are slaughtered.

Getting involved and trying to curb the various genocides, as Obama is trying to do, is problematic. We (the entire world, not just the US) may have already waited too long if getting involved could have worked. Possibly, early in the Syrian Arab Spring uprising, the world could have lent a hand with a lot of humanitarian and some military aid. If there are (or were) some more moderate rebel groups, we could have helped them hold territory and possibly protect the less hate filled people. The world could have tried to help some rebel groups provide safe haven's within Syrian territory. Currently millions have escaped to places like Jordan and Turkey which are now being taxed to the breaking point by the refugee problem.

To a large extent, the world has been hamstrung by the United Nations veto power of basically amoral powers such as Russia and also to some extent China. Russia is now all but declaring war on it's own homosexual population under the so called guise of morality, but I see little moral in Russia's behavior. For moral societies, I'd rather look to countries like Canada in both foreign and domestic policy. When I think of Russia, I think of corrupt oligarchies. Maybe I'm drifting off the topic of Syria, but a lot of this problem has to do with the hatred that various groups have for one another around the world. Religious hatred in places like Syria between various faiths such as the Sunni and Shiite sects within Islam. Russia's hatred for it's own homosexual population comes to mind like a canary in the coalmine.

I think Obama now wants to do more than just stand by and watch the atrocities happen, but it's hard to say if just dropping a few bombs to punish the Assad Government for use of Chemical weapons will do any good. If we can find ways to protect innocent people caught up in this configuration, I'm i favor of that, but I have little idea what would work best at this point. I hope things can get better, but I fear there may be little we can do; except, of course, humanitarian aid for those lucky enough to get out of Syria. Maybe there is more we can do, but I don't have any easy yes of no answers on our involvement. Remember, it's not just how we feel about Obama and the USA. It's the entire world hamstrung in gridlock and every so often witnessing the mass genocides in various parts of the world.

1 comment:

Theslowlane Robert Ashworth said...

There is finally a useful proposal from Russia about international custody of Syrian chemical weapons. A proposal first suggested informally, by our defense secretary.