Same Old, Same Old in Syria

Townhall.com ^ | September 5, 2013 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Kaslin]

President Obama's on-and-off-again planned American attack on Syria is nothing new. Besides its five declared wars, America has a habit of intervening all over the world.

Even apart from clandestine CIA operations, and even after the unhappy end of the Vietnam War, we have attacked lots of countries and non-state militias.

The roll call of recent American military interventions is quite astounding: Cambodia, Iran, Libya, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Liberia, Iraq, Haiti, Somalia, the former Yugoslavia, Zaire and Afghanistan.

Even the notion of Past American isolationism is a myth. In the four years between 1912 and 1916 alone, the U.S. sent troops into Cuba, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Even those busy years of intervention were not novel. Since our infancy, the U.S. military has been constantly engaged. In another four-year period between 1812 and 1816, America fought the British, the French, the Spanish and the North Africans.

[ExTexasRedhead]

The American people are against this BS by a “huge” majority.

[newnhdad]

the only people who are for this thing reside inside the beltway. Everyone else on the planet, including Syrians are against it.

[ExTexasRedhead]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-09-05/standoff-mediterranean-us-vs-russian-navies

Check this out and pass it on.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"I have no problem taking out pockets of terrorists and leaders with pinpoint attacks... this is not what we are talking about."

Actually, this is what we are talking about. Anytime you use your military in an act of agression against a state or a non state organization, that's war. That would be a WWII type of war (war against states) or something like the War on Terror (war against non state entities). In the case of the latter, what is vanquishing the enemy? Al Quada is never going to formally come to the table and surrendor. In these instances, we have to make clearly stated objectives, not some amorphorus "vanquishing the enemy". There are also times where you conduct limited war against states without needing to completely anihilate them and you still obtain your objectives.

The only time that the CnC should be allowed unilateral powers to use our military forces without getting approval from the Congress is when Americans have been attacked and there is no time to go to Congress. A true emergency such as the Benghazi attack.

[LibLieSlayer]

I understand. If obama wants a real war... take out iran. He will never do that.

[Sir Napsalot]

I've been reading up on various posts on the Syria 'crisis'.

I still think the latest "Being Your Own Man", "'Dominant' Obama", "The Light of Day", and "End Game" are Wretchard's recent bests, if not the best.

Not to distract or diminish this VDH article. Sorry if you think it is off topic (or worse, trolling).

[Iron Munro]

Obama wants to improve Syria - like he improved Libya and Egypt.

Face it - everything this air-headed idiot touches turns to crap.