Thursday, August 29, 2013

DESTRUCTIVE ILLUSION

Answering a survey by Democracy for America, which asks:

Based on the current situation, do you support U.S. military intervention in Syria?


Military action can only make matters worse. As President Obama's interview yesterday with PBS acknowledged, it offers no solution. We should have learned from Iraq and Afghanistan (not to mention Vietnam) the terrible cost and ultimate failure of military intervention in the crises and conflicts of other nations. However hard and complicated, the only hopeful course is political and diplomatic, coupled with the full pressure of world opinion and maximum aid to suffering populations. It's past time to reject the destructive illusion that bombs can serve humanitarian purposes rather than exacerbate current political problems and human suffering. Instead of replicating Bush's "coalition of the willing" for war, we should work ceaselessly to lessen the impasse with Russia and China and make the UN more effective.

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