Syria

=__**Time to Intervene in Syria?**__=

A Civil War has been boiling in Syria for over a year. 70,000 Syrians have been killed in fighting between government and rebel forces. The roots of this conflict go back to the Arab Spring which saw Authoritarian Governments toppled in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, and challenged elsewhere. Given our draw down in Afghanistan where U.S. troops remain in harms way- and the disappointing progress in Iraq post turn-over, the U.S has been reluctant to get involved in another Middle East Conflict.

We have contributed humanitarian aid intended to support the rebels, but nothing more so far. President Obama once pledged to intervene if and when the Assad Regime in Syria were to use chemical weapons against its own people. Within the past two weeks there have been reports that it has in fact crossed that Red Line.

Israel has just bombed Syrian military targets to prevent its shipment to anti-israeli rebels along the Israeli border and in the Palestinian Territories. Israel claims to have acted pre-emptively in self defense. Syria has vowed retaliation. The war may well be growing from civil to international.

Could the U.S. make a difference by intervening- to give peace and a political solution a chance that would save lives? Should the U.S. intervene if innocent lives are at stake? If not the U.S., who? How?


 * Send arms to the rebels to help them defend themselves?
 * Impose a no-fly zone to protect rebel enclaves?
 * Arrange for Assad and his government to step down and hand over power with guarantees to their safety?
 * Bomb military targets in Syria to prevent the further deployment of Chemical Weapons and take out Syrian air defenses?
 * Send in Special Forces to secure known stockpiles of Chemical Weapons?

What if we aren't supported by the international community, or are opposed in the UN by Russia and China? What if the rebels we help turn against us like the Taliban did in Afghanistan? (We previously armed Afghan rebels who were fighting against Soviet occupation in the 1980's...)

What do you think?