Now we see heart-wrenching videos of babies, children, and innocent men and women dead from a chemical attack on the northern city of Khan Sheikhoun that would make a stone cry. It is alleged that Assad, the dastardly, devious dictator of Damascus dropped the deadly gas, but no one has proved that and Syrian officials have vehemently denied responsibility. The Local Coordination Committee, a monitoring group, said the airstrike was carried out by Russia–a supporter of Assad.

Frankly, it doesn’t make any sense for Putin to order such an attack. He has nothing to gain and much to lose by such irresponsible violence. Same with Assad, after all, he seems to be winning in the very vicious civil war. Could the chemical attack be a false flag operation whereby rebel terrorists attacked their own people to place blame upon Assad and/or Russia?

The conflict is not between two groups but involves Assad’s forces fighting a rebel group consisting of hundreds of groups numbering about 100,000 fighters. Then ISIS got involved and it’s now at least a three-way fight. There are no “good guys.” Now, both Assad’s forces and the rebels are fighting a separate battle against ISIS at the same time. It’s a major mess in the Middle East.

President Trump authorized an air strike against the Assad regime Thursday night in retaliation of the chemical attack; however, some Americans think he may have acted without all relevant facts. Trump’s attack upon Syria was a benefit to ISIS terrorists! Something’s wrong here because ISIS is a far greater threat to the U.S. than is Syria.

Trump must remember that his first priority is protecting the U.S.; however, the gas attack, while horrendous, was no threat to Americans. At least his response sent a needed message to the world: the U.S. will respond when U.S. officials deem it essential–but was it essential?

Are only Americans outraged about innocent deaths to the extent of doing something about it? Other national leaders are acting as cheerleaders but not getting “into the game.”

Meanwhile, an assortment of U.S. politicians from across the political spectrum has joined in beating the war drums. But then, older politicians have always managed to find the guts to send younger men to fight their wars.

Are we to do what others are responsible to do? Isn’t the United Nations supposed to keep the peace, protect the innocent, and bring the bad guys to justice? Alternatively, doesn’t the pecking order demand that surrounding Muslim nations bring the dictator to justice? Of course, other Muslim leaders have bloody hands also. Does any sane person believe that Assad will be replaced by a devotee of peace, justice, and freedom after he is greeted by his 72 virgins in Paradise?

Events are taking place that I predict will escalate the war, eliminate the Christians, exclude any voice of reason, and engage Israel in constant confrontations. Assad is not a good guy but he is preferable to the alternative. He is a known entity and he has not been shelling Jews on the Golan Heights. A new Syrian strongman might break the treaty and the shelling of Israel could again become a daily event as in the past.

Will we see Damascus totally destroyed? What a tragedy to see this historical and biblical city in total ruins! Will the UN get involved and escalate the disturbance into a catastrophic event or will they help provide peace, protection, and prosperity? We may soon know the answer.

As ruthless a dictator as his father was, President Bashar al-Assad should be called Bashar the Butcher. While all people of good will want to see him assume room temperature, it is not wise for the U.S. to assume the role of paladin of the world. Those rebels in Syria without a doubt are Muslim extremists. Let them fight their own battles. The choice between the two sides is not a choice between good and evil but between much evil and more evil.

The U.S. does not have a horse in this race, but we do abhor the killing of innocent people. While Assad is a vicious dictator, he has permitted Christians to practice their faith and has kept relative peace until recent years. If Assad goes, the Christians will be totally destroyed in Syria. If he is deposed, Muslim fanatics will fill his chair. Most reasonable people prefer a sensitive, peaceful conservative but in the real world that is not going to happen.

The Syrian opposition is a mixture of fanatics, freedom lovers, and criminal opportunists. Incredibly, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for supporting them with “humanitarian aid.” We have seen this movie before. Non-thinkers praised the uprisings in Libya, Sudan, Bahrain, etc., and now we realize that we got much more than we wanted. Radical Muslims have been enabled and are now in control. Sharia law will be forced on the people in all Muslim-dominated nations. Turkey is going in that direction as I write.

Russia, China, and Iran are backing Syria’s dictator while Saudi Arabia is opposed to him and supports a new government in Syria, hoping that it will not be as friendly to Iran.

When former Saudi King Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud was on his deathbed, he warned his sons “to keep your eye on Syria” since anything good for Syria is considered bad for Saudi. While both Syria and Saudi Arabia are Muslim, the Saudis are of the Sunni fanatical Wahhabi sect plus their country is the location of Mecca (birthplace of Mohammed) and Medina. There are no churches of any kind in Saudi Arabia and even other Muslim sects such as the Shiites are without mosques in most major areas!

Syria is more secular than Saudi Arabia but Sunni Muslims are the majority religious group in both countries. There are about two million citizens in Damascus and 85% are Sunni Muslims that are served by about 2,000 mosques in the city. The Grand Mosque of Damascus is one of the largest, oldest, and holiest sites for Muslims.

Fanatical, committed Muslims are dangerous, devious, and deceitful people and we are fools to waltz into the crossfire. The free world should permit these countries to work out their own differences, remove their own totalitarian leaders, and worship however they choose. The U.S. can cheer the good guys (better guys) but we don’t have the money, personnel, or authority to get involved.

Damascus will be destroyed and while that will be a major disaster, it is more preferable than Dallas, Denver, or Detroit being destroyed. And don’t be deceived, if those on the streets of Damascus have their way, it will be an American city that will be a “ruinous heap.”

President Trump should stay out of Syria. Let “peaceful” Muslims take care of Assad and hang him after a public trial for using chemical gas. If Damascus is to be destroyed, let Muslims do it!

No one elected America as the world’s moral and humanitarian watchdog.

Boys’ new book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published recently by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.

Trump should show restraint in dealing with Syria. We have about 200 special forces there but more will follow if the War Party has its way. The plan is to keep small but effective U.S. garrisons indefinitely in eastern and northeastern Syria and western Iraq. Four military installations “already are being used by the anti-ISIS coalition, either openly or semi-covertly.” Mission creep is in our future.

Syria is a Muslim nation with 75% belonging to the Sunni sect. Dictator Bashar Assad is a member of the Alawite Muslim sect (a Shiite offshoot) and is supported by most religious groups because he offers some stability. Most of his generals are also Alawites. Assad is an efficient killer, especially when cornered, but he has governed the nation and provided stability and protection to Christian churches.

Moreover, he is supported by Russia, Iran, and the terrorist group, Hezbollah. His opponents are a ragtag collection of Islamic fanatics including the Jabbat al-Nusra terrorists, who will cut the throats of their cobelligerents as soon as the present regime falls.

Assad’s opponents consist of hundreds of local activist groups that have sprung up since early 2011 with growing coordination on the national level. Some factions want a violent Taliban-type state after Assad is toppled, while others are willing to accept religious diversity. Still others advocate for a secular government. They have little in common except their hatred of Assad’s regime. Often, fighters are willing to overlook some doctrinal differences if a leader has better weapons to offer. Obviously, it is a mangled mess of murderers who hate other murderers.

Christians make up about 10% of the population and generally side with the Assad government since it has been supportive of them and protected their minority status. There are Christians who have gone to the rebel side but, generally, it is thought that the Christians are in bed with Assad since the Muslim alternative is unthinkable. It is similar to the old ploy of going along feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last–but eat you he will. When push comes to shove, Assad will shove–anyone in his way. Christians are trying to stay out of his way.

The rebels against Assad who often fight among themselves, receive support, funds, and weapons, including anti-tank weapons, from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar. They are now controlled by the most extreme Muslim fanatics. The U.S. has refused to support any of these “opposition” groups because they may fund a worse thug than now occupies the catbird seat in Damascus! However, the U.S. has dropped weapons and ammunition to the Kurdish YPG militia in its campaign against ISIS.

The opposition to Assad is a mixture of Sunni fanatics, thieves, criminal opportunists, and a few freedom lovers who coalesced into the Free Syrian Army and the Al Nusra Front with links to Al Qaeda. Add Kurdish militias (who hate the two above groups) to the volatile mix and you have ingredients for disaster.

But in spite of all the above, here we go again! John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and some GOP (Grand Old Progressives) and many Democrats have been beating the war drums to a deafening pitch. Progressives seem to think America is destined to fight every war in support of the good guys; however, in Syria there are no good guys: it is a monstrous dictator against Muslim fanatics. It is tragic that more about 500,000 lives have been lost; 1,000,000 wounded; and the internal or external displacement of 11,000,000 but that battle is not our battle. To those who say it is our fight, I ask if we are to get involved in every battle on earth. We would be wise to heed Winston Churchill who said, “To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.” I say, “yes, yes.”

The U.S. invaded Iraq because we were convinced (many say wrongly) that they were involved in the attack on the World Trade Center. A nation must respond when it is attacked. However, Syria has not attacked us and they are not a threat to us. Let the bloody bullies bang their heads together and resolve their own differences. If Israel wants to get involved, that is their business. Let the Middle East nations that are threatened take whatever side they choose. It will not be a principled decision since there is no noble principle involved, only violent religious and political hatred. All factions are thugs, thieves, tyrants, and terrorists.

America has become not only the world’s bank but also the world’s policeman that is obligated to clean up the Syrian mess! My opinion: the cost of one American life is too high a price to pay for getting involved and it is not wise for us to pour billions of dollars into that cesspool of a nation while we struggle to pay our national bills. We have seen our young men and women (!) return from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan missing their limbs and burned beyond recognition. Moms have been killed leaving small children without a mother. But then, that reflects upon us because any nation that must use women to fight its wars is probably not worth defending.

Bush made a super dumb statement when he spoke of taking democracy to nations in the Middle East. They don’t want democracy and even if they did, the burden to take it there is not a U.S. burden. After all, who appointed us the Paladin of Peace? We don’t have the money nor should we sacrifice our youth in a war that cannot be won. Our desire to share the principles of freedom should not entice us into a war that will be a Hundred Year’s War; however, it is easier to fight for your principles than it is to live according to your principles. Let’s live them and let other people learn them from our example. Furthermore, the winner of the Syrian conflict would not be welcomed at any decent person’s dining table. America should let other nations fight this war then everyone will be losers–except us.

World leaders still haven’t received the message: there is no way to beat Islamists. We can blast a nation into the Stone Age but that won’t win the war. Fact: there will be perpetual conflict as long as there are Koranic Muslims down at the local mosque. We will be at war and living with terror to the end of time! The next war could very well bury Western Civilization forever as well as the barbarians on the Arabian Desert.

Furthermore, there is the issue of national sovereignty. Who gave America (or Russia, China, Israel, etc.) the authority to interfere in and invade another nation? Do we believe in national sovereignty or not? Do we believe in sovereignty for us but not for “them”? No one has even tried to justify this.

Only a fool will say that we have any chance of establishing even a semblance of freedom in Syria. Freedom doesn’t work in Islamic nations since freedom is the antithesis to sharia and jihad.

Non-thinkers, bubbling over with naiveté, praised the uprisings in Libya, Egypt, etc., and now they realize that we got much more than we wanted. Radical Muslims have been enabled and are now in control with sharia and jihad as the norm. Moreover, our incursions into Iraq and Afghanistan are two more abject failures of a stupid, senseless, strident, and suicidal foreign policy.

Trump and other politicians should use their bloody pulpits and the media to promote freedom everywhere but keep our men, money, missiles, and munitions (with a few exceptions), at home.

Oh, also keep our maidens and moms at home.

Boys’ new book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published recently by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.

The Secretary of Defense revealed last week that 200 special operation troops would be sent into Iraq and would participate in raids into Syria. Wait a minute, I thought the Iraqi war was over, or at least we had quit; however, we did leave 3,500 troops there. On Nov. 4 Obama said, “But you know I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I said I’d end the war in Iraq. I ended the war in Iraq.” But more troops will be sent!

Senators Graham and McCain want Obama to raise the total U.S. forces in Iraq to 10,000 and send an equal number to Syria! If Obama does that, I suggest that Graham and McCain cease beating the war drums and actually lead the first incursion. Old men make wars and young men (and women) die in them.

What will these new troops in Syria and Iraq do? Will they defend themselves? What are their limitations? What will happen in a confrontation with Russian troops? In early November the BBC reported that 10,000 Russian troops were in Syria and after the Paris attack, Putin authorized 150,000 more troops! If American troops are captured, will we send troops to rescue them?

On Nov. 24, the Turks shot down a Russian plane on the Syria-Turkey border and a Russian helicopter was shot down by the US backed Syrian rebels–the Free Syrian Army with what is thought to be an American supplied TOW missile. It gets worse as Russia’s Putin ordered their best missile defense system sent to the Russian airbase in Syria in retaliation for the destruction of their plane and pilot. Some U.S. experts are preaching, predicting–maybe promoting World War III.

Syria is a maniacal, murderous, malodorous mess that should alarm the U.S. but not activate us. It calls for our attention but not action.

Just to remind younger readers of another mistake we made: Following WW II, Vietnam was divided into the Communist North and the democratic South. In July of 1950, United States military involvement in Vietnam began as Democrat President Harry Truman authorized $15 million in military aid to the French in their struggle with communists in the north. A few advisors were authorized followed by tanks, planes, artillery, and other supplies to prosecute the war.

In January of 1955 Republican President Dwight Eisenhower sent military aid and offered to train the South Vietnamese Army. We were now on a slippery slope and it finally ended with a divided America; 47,244 Americans were killed and over 334,000 were wounded; 922 U.S. airplanes shot down; hundreds of villages leveled; and a high of 543,000 American troops in Vietnam. More than 2,400 POWs/MIAs were unaccounted for as of 1973. It was America’s longest war (15 years of combat) and our first defeat ending in 1973. Our government never had any intention of winning the war. Sadly, today Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand are still controlled by tyrants!

Nixon campaigned for president on “peace with honor” but there was no honor. America troops fled Saigon as Communist troops entered the city. U.S. helicopters lifted American Marines, embassy personnel, and South Vietnamese civilian workers (who were on the commies’ death list) from the roof of the American embassy. Film footage of desperate civilians hanging onto departing helicopters is the last shameful scene in a tragic war that started with a few advisors and trainers!

Now we have advisors and trainers in Syria! We’ve seen that movie before with Vietnamese subtitles. This time subtitles are in Arabic!

Syria is a snake pit with a bunch of snakes killing each other and the U.S. should stay out. The BBC News reported that “There are believed to be as many as 1,000 armed opposition groups in Syria, commanding an estimated 100,000 fighters.” It is a tangled mess that has no reasonable solution.

Syria’s dictator Bashar Assad is a Muslim hypocrite (as was his daddy), supported by Shi’ites, an efficient killer especially when cornered, and supported by Russia fighter jets, Iran, and the terrorist group Hezbollah. However, Assad has governed the nation and provided stability and protection to Christian churches.

Assad’s opponents in the civil war are a ragtag assortment of Islamic fanatics including the Jabbat al-Nusra terrorists, who will cut the throats of their co-belligerents as soon as the Assad regime falls or is pushed over. There are Iranian, Russian, and Syrian armies already fighting ISIS on the ground (thereby helping Assad) and French, Russian, and American jets fighting from the air. American jets are pounding Assad’s conglomerate army and Russian jets are fighting Assad’s enemies. So, America is hurting Assad while Russia helping Assad! Added to this crazy mix, the Israeli air force is also flying sorties from time to time.

Assad’s enemies like to be known as ISIL, meaning the Islamic State of Iraq and the Lavant. This refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey to Egypt that includes Lebanon, Syria, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Cyprus, and Jordan. The group’s stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area. ISIL is the term used by the UN and the Obama administration and using it gives the terrorists more credibility as if they actually represent all those living in the Levant–from Turkey to Egypt. The use of the term also takes attention away from Obama’s failure in Iraq. In Obama’s commencement speech at West Point on June 19 he used ISIL 16 times thereby warning the mainstream media to go along with the farcical nomenclature.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claims to be a caliphate with religious, political, and military authority over all Muslims worldwide. It controls territory with 10 million people in Syria and Iraq and has changed its name to IS or Islamic State. Obama insists on using ISIL instead of ISIS when discussing the area. There is no difference whether ISIL, ISIS, or IS; they are the same–Muslim butchers.

The free world and the UN still haven’t received the message: there is no way to beat Islamists. We can blast a nation into the Stone Age but that won’t win the war. Fact: there will be perpetual conflict as long as there are Koranic Muslims down at the local mosque–any local mosque. We will be at war and living with terror to the end of the age! The next war could very well bury Western Civilization forever as well as the barbarians living on the Arabian Desert.

Furthermore, there is the issue of national sovereignty. Who gave America the authority to invade another nation? Do we believe in national sovereignty or not? At least Russia was invited into Syria and Israel can build a good case for their attacks. Do we believe in sovereignty for us but not for “them”? No one has even tried to justify this inconsistency.

Syria: Too little too late or too much too soon? Neither, the US should not have troops there. Let Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, etc., clean up their own mess. As I wrote in 2013, the US should stay out of Syria since it is a bridge into Hell. All factions in Syria are thugs, thieves, tyrants, or terrorists and they all pray toward Mecca.

The US Air Force Secretary has admitted that “ground forces” is a must in order to “occupy” and “govern” parts of Syria; but the US should not be interested in occupying or governing any other nation. We have no more right to be there than Mexico has a right to occupy and govern San Diego, Tucson, Las Cruces or Brownsville. We have no right to be there unless we declare war.

All the Muslim states in the area are enemies of Syria and Iran so I suggest that the Saudis, the Egyptians, the Jordanians, the Turks, etc., get together a massive army (Turkey has 500,000 troops in the barracks) and clean out their Muslim “brothers.” They can easily finance the operation with their oil money. They can show how ecumenical they are by rebuilding the homes of the Kurds and Christians. The US can share intelligence and strategy with the “good” guys but it is a Muslim fight.

Syria is a mess but it is not worth another American life or limb. The US has left enough American blood and limbs in that desert wasteland. The Muslims made the mess, now let them clean it up.

(Boys’ new book, The God Haters was recently published by Barbwire Books; to get your copy of The God Haters click here . An eBook edition is also available.)

Syria is a maniacal, murderous, malodorous mess that should alarm the U.S. but not activate us. It calls for our attention but not action. Proud, patriotic, even pious people have demanded we jump into that snake pit; however, we must be very wary of dangerous, sincere patriots who want to kill people because they think they are or may be a threat to us or someone else!

Dictator Bashar Assad is a Muslim hypocrite (supported by Shi’ites) and an efficient killer, especially when cornered, but he has governed the nation and provided stability and protection to Christian churches. Moreover, he is supported by Russia (fighter jets) and Iran and the terrorist group, Hezbollah. His opponents are a ragtag collection of Islamic fanatics including the Jabbat al-Nusra terrorists, who will cut the throats of their co-belligerents as soon as the present regime falls or is pushed over. In recent weeks the Syrian “rebels” killed an entire village of Christians (although the photographic evidence has not been shown on U.S. media)! Muslims have acted that way for more than 1400 years!

Just this week, the media reported that the rebels are now controlled by the most extreme Muslim fanatics. Any support of this “opposition” will fund a worse thug than now occupies the catbird seat in Damascus!

The Syrian opposition is a mixture of Sunni fanatics, thieves, criminal opportunists, and a few freedom lovers. Incredibly, the U.S. is supporting them with “humanitarian aid.” We have seen this movie before, but now we are sending fighter jets at Obama’s insistence! They have flown into Syria in the last week. There are 4,500 U.S. troops, plus 300 Marines, on the Syrian border as I write and a Patriot anti-aircraft missile system has been deployed along the Syrian-Jordan border. We would be wise to heed Winston Churchill who said, “To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.” I say, “yes, yes.”

But in spite of all the above, here we go again! John McCain and some GOP (Grand Old Progressives) and most Democrats have been beating the war drums to a deafening pitch. Progressives seem to think America is destined to fight every war in support of the good guys; however, in Syria there are no good guys: it is a monstrous dictator against Muslim fanatics. It is tragic that more than 98,000 lives have been lost but that battle is not our battle. To those who say it is our fight, I ask if we are to get involved in every battle on earth.

The U.S. invaded Iraq because we were convinced that they were involved in the attack on the World Trade Center. A nation must respond when it is attacked. However, Syria has not attacked us and they are not a threat to us. Let the bloody bullies bang their heads together and resolve their own differences. If Israel wants to get involved, that is their business. Let the Middle East nations that are threatened take whatever side they choose. It will not be a principled decision since there is no noble principle involved, only violent religious and political hatred. All factions are thugs, thieves, tyrants, and terrorists.

America has become not only the world’s bank but the world’s policeman that is obligated to clean up the Syrian mess! My opinion: the cost of one American life is too high a price to pay for getting involved and it is not wise for us to pour billions of dollars into that cesspool of a nation while we struggle to pay our national bills. We have seen our young men and women (!) return from Afghanistan missing their limbs and burned beyond recognition. Moms have been killed leaving small children without a mother. (But then, that reflects upon us because any nation that must use women to fight its wars is not worth defending.)

Bush made a super dumb statement when he spoke of taking democracy to nations in the Middle East. They don’t want democracy and even if they did, the burden to take it there is not a U.S. burden. After all, who appointed us the Paladin of Peace? We don’t have the money nor should we sacrifice our youth in a war that cannot be won. Our desire to share the principles of freedom should not entice us into a war that will never be won; however, it is easier to fight for your principles than it is to live according to your principles. Let’s live them and let other people learn them from our example. Furthermore, the winner of the Syrian conflict would not be welcomed at any decent person’s dining table. America should let other nations fight this war then everyone will be losers–except us.

World leaders still haven’t received the message: there is no way to beat Islamists. We can blast a nation into the Stone Age but that won’t win the war. Fact: there will be perpetual conflict as long as there are Koranic Muslims down at the local mosque. We will be at war and living with terror to the end of time! The next war could very well bury Western Civilization forever as well as the barbarians on the Arabian Desert.

Furthermore, there is the issue of national sovereignty. Who gave America (or Russia, China, Israel, etc.) the authority to interfere and invade another nation? Do we believe in national sovereignty or not? Do we believe in sovereignty for us but not for “them”? No one has even tried to justify this.
Of course, another war might take America’s attention off the “scandal of the day,” giving Obama some breathing room. Only a fool will say that we have any chance of establishing even a semblance of freedom in Syria. Freedom doesn’t work in Islamic nations since freedom is the antithesis to sharia and jihad.

Non-thinkers, bubbling over with naiveté, praised the uprisings in Libya, Egypt, etc., and now they realize that we got much more than we wanted. Radical Muslims have been enabled and are now in control with sharia and jihad as the norm. Moreover, our incursions into Iraq and Afghanistan are two more abject failures of a stupid, senseless, strident, and suicidal foreign policy.

Let our politicians use their bloody pulpits and the media to promote freedom everywhere but keep our money, missiles, munitions, and men at home.

Oh, also keep our maidens and moms at home.

Copyright 2013, Don Boys, Ph.D.

Syria is a maniacal, murderous, malodorous mess that should alarm the U.S. but not activate us. It calls for our attention but not action. Proud, patriotic, even pious people have demanded we jump into that snake pit; however, we must be very wary of dangerous, sincere patriots who want to kill people because they think they are or may be a threat to us or someone else!

Dictator Bashar Assad is a Muslim hypocrite (supported by Shi’ites) and an efficient killer, especially when cornered, but he has governed the nation and provided stability and protection to Christian churches. Moreover, he is supported by Russia (fighter jets) and Iran and the terrorist group, Hezbollah. His opponents are a ragtag collection of Islamic fanatics including the Jabbat al-Nusra terrorists, who will cut the throats of their co-belligerents as soon as the present regime falls or is pushed over. In recent weeks the Syrian “rebels” killed an entire village of Christians (although the photographic evidence has not been shown on U.S. media)! Muslims have acted that way for more than 1400 years!

Just this week, the media reported that the rebels are now controlled by the most extreme Muslim fanatics. Any support of this “opposition” will fund a worse thug than now occupies the catbird seat in Damascus!

The Syrian opposition is a mixture of Sunni fanatics, thieves, criminal opportunists, and a few freedom lovers. Incredibly, the U.S. is supporting them with “humanitarian aid.” We have seen this movie before, but now we are sending fighter jets at Obama’s insistence! They have flown into Syria in the last week. There are 4,500 U.S. troops, plus 300 Marines, on the Syrian border as I write and a Patriot anti-aircraft missile system has been deployed along the Syrian-Jordan border. We would be wise to heed Winston Churchill who said, “To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.” I say, “yes, yes.”

But in spite of all the above, here we go again! John McCain and some GOP (Grand Old Progressives) and most Democrats have been beating the war drums to a deafening pitch. Progressives seem to think America is destined to fight every war in support of the good guys; however, in Syria there are no good guys: it is a monstrous dictator against Muslim fanatics. It is tragic that more than 98,000 lives have been lost but that battle is not our battle. To those who say it is our fight, I ask if we are to get involved in every battle on earth?

The U.S. invaded Iraq because we were convinced that they were involved in the attack on the World Trade Center. A nation must respond when it is attacked. However, Syria has not attacked us and they are not a threat to us. Let the bloody bullies bang their heads together and resolve their own differences. If Israel wants to get involved, that is their business. Let the Middle East nations that are threatened take whatever side they choose. It will not be a principled decision since there is no noble principle involved, only violent religious and political hatred. All factions are thugs, thieves, tyrants, and terrorists.

America has become not only the world’s bank but the world’s policeman that is obligated to clean up the Syrian mess! My opinion: the cost of one American life is too high a price to pay for getting involved and it is not wise for us to pour billions of dollars into that cesspool of a nation while we struggle to pay our national bills. We have seen our young men and women (!) return from Afghanistan missing their limbs and burned beyond recognition. Moms have been killed leaving small children without a mother. (But then, that reflects upon us because any nation that must use women to fight its wars is not worth defending.)

Bush made a super dumb statement when he spoke of taking democracy to nations in the Middle East. They don’t want democracy and even if they did, the burden to take it there is not a U.S. burden. After all, who appointed us the Paladin of Peace? We don’t have the money nor should we sacrifice our youth in a war that cannot be won. Our desire to share the principles of freedom should not entice us into a war that will never be won; however, it is easier to fight for your principles than it is to live according to your principles. Let’s live them and let other people learn them from our example. Furthermore, the winner of the Syrian conflict would not be welcomed at any decent person’s dining table. America should let other nations fight this war then everyone will be losers–except us.

World leaders still haven’t received the message: there is no way to beat Islamists. We can blast a nation into the Stone Age but that won’t win the war. Fact: there will be perpetual conflict as long as there are Koranic Muslims down at the local mosque. We will be at war and living with terror to the end of time! The next war could very well bury Western Civilization forever as well as the barbarians on the Arabian Desert.

Furthermore, there is the issue of national sovereignty. Who gave America (or Russia, China, Israel, etc.) the authority to interfere and invade another nation? Do we believe in national sovereignty or not? Do we believe in sovereignty for us but not for “them”? No one has even tried to justify this.

Of course, another war might take America’s attention off the “scandal of the day,” giving Obama some breathing room. Only a fool will say that we have any chance of establishing even a semblance of freedom in Syria. Freedom doesn’t work in Islamic nations since freedom is the antithesis to sharia and jihad.

Non-thinkers, bubbling over with naiveté, praised the uprisings in Libya, Egypt, etc., and now they realize that we got much more than we wanted. Radical Muslims have been enabled and are now in control with sharia and jihad as the norm. Moreover, our incursions into Iraq and Afghanistan are two more abject failures of a stupid, senseless, strident, and suicidal foreign policy.
Let our politicians use their bloody pulpits and the media to promote freedom everywhere but keep our money, missiles, munitions, and men at home.

Oh, also keep our maidens and moms at home.

Copyright 2013, Don Boys, Ph.D.

Every time Cato the Elder (born 234 B.C.) spoke to the Roman Senate, whatever the subject, he ended each speech with, “And Carthage [on the coast of North Africa] must be defeated.” After many years, it was.

Likewise, Damascus, Syria is the oldest inhabited city in the world and will be destroyed as was predicted in Isaiah 17:1, “Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” Is that prophesy about to take place before our eyes on television news?

Flavius Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, reveals that Damascus was founded by Uz, the son of Aram. He reports that Nicolaus of Damascus, in the fourth book of his History, says, “Abraham reigned at Damascus, being a foreigner, who came with an army out of the land above Babylon, called the land of the Chaldeans: but, after a long time, he got him up, and removed from that country also, with his people, and went into the land then called the land of Canaan, but now the land of Judea.” That means Damascus was a thriving city by about 2000 B.C. since that was the approximate date of Abraham’s birth.

The almost dry Barada River (Cold River) runs through Damascus and is the same as the Abana River mentioned in relation to Captain Naaman as recorded in II Kings 5:12. In the 1980’s I did a driving tour from Jerusalem to Amman (Jordan) to Damascus to Beirut, Lebanon. I visited Damascus and spent time at the Abana River as well as the street called “Straight” mentioned in relation to the Apostle Paul. The street is two miles long and is now in a very poor area whereas in Paul’s day it was a magnificent thoroughfare lined with columns.

About 85% of Damascus’ citizens (about 2 million) are Sunni Muslims, and there are about 2,000 mosques in the city. The Grand Mosque of Damascus is one of the largest, oldest, and considered one of the holiest sites for Muslims. The site originally had been the Christian Cathedral of St. John and inside the mosque is the shrine of John the Baptist where tradition holds that the head of John is buried although other churches claim a head of the famous prophet and baptizer of Christ! One head was promoted as the head of John as a boy!

Some branches of “Christianity” place an emphasis upon relics that often slides into silliness. In 1881, The New York Times claimed that the monks of two rival French monasteries used to exhibit, in one, the skull of John the Baptist “when he was a boy,” the other his cranium “after he had become a man.” I have seen one of John’s skulls in a mosque in Damascus.

Will we see Damascus totally destroyed? What a tragedy to see this historical and biblical city in total ruins! Will the UN get involved and escalate the disturbance into a catastrophic event? We will soon know the answers.

As ruthless a dictator as his father was, President Bashar al-Assad should be called Bashar the Butcher. While all people of good will want to see him assume room temperature, it is not wise for us to take sides. Those rebels in Syria without a doubt are Muslim extremists. Let them fight their own battles. The choice between the two sides is not a choice between good and evil but between evil and much evil.

The U.S. does not have a horse in this race, but we do abhor the killing of innocent people. While Assad is a vicious dictator, he has permitted Christians to practice their faith and has kept relative peace. If he is deposed, Muslim fanatics will fill his chair. Most reasonable people prefer a sensitive, peaceful conservative but in the real world that is not going to happen. Assad is not a good guy but he is preferable to the alternative. He is a known entity and Syria has not been shelling Jews on the Golan Heights. A new Syrian strongman might break the treaty and the shelling could become a daily event as in the past.

The Syrian opposition is a mixture of fanatics, freedom lovers, and criminal opportunists. Incredibly, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for supporting them with “humanitarian aid.” We have seen this movie before. Non-thinkers praised the uprisings in Libya, Egypt, etc., and now we realize that we got much more than we wanted. Radical Muslims have been enabled and are now in control. Sharia law will be forced on the people in all Muslim-dominated nations.

Russia, China, and Iran are backing Syria’s dictator while Saudi Arabia is opposed to him and supports a new government in Syria, hoping that it will not be as friendly to Iran.

When former Saudi King Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud was on his deathbed, he warned his sons to “keep your eye on Syria” since anything good for Syria is considered bad for Saudi. While both Syria and Saudi Arabia are Muslim, the Saudis are of the fanatical Wahhabi sect plus it is the location of Mecca and Medina and the birthplace of Mohammed. There are no churches of any kind in Saudi Arabia and even other Muslim sects such as the Shiites are without mosques in most major areas! Syria is more secular than Saudi Arabia but Sunni Muslims are the majority religious group in both countries.

Fanatical, committed Muslims are dangerous, devious, and deceitful people and we are fools to waltz into the crossfire. The free world should permit these countries to work out their own differences, remove their own totalitarian leaders, and worship however they choose. The U.S. can cheer the good guys (better guys) but we don’t have the money, personnel, or authority to get involved.

Damascus will be destroyed and while that will be a major disaster, it is more preferable than Dallas. And don’t be deceived, if those on the streets of Damascus have their way, it will be Dallas.

Copyright 2013, Don Boys, Ph.D.