I’m willing to strike Syria if we get to take out all of their WMDs. They are a real threat to our national security. If that’s not going to be the focus of any strike, then I’m not willing to be involved, because I see no other national security issue at stake.
If we take out the WMDs, then we deny them to BOTH Assad and Al Qaeda, and I’m very fine with neither of them having access to chem/bio weapons.
But, blowing up somebody’s tent, or somebody’s herd of goats, or even 1 or 2 WMD ammunition depots is not in our interest in any way, shape, or form.
Syria is not the only country with WMDs. Is everyone too young to remember that old word “escalation”? That is the real issue here: the danger of human pride/humiliation letting this thing get out of control. This supersedes all the other “issues.”