“Syria: To bomb or not to bomb”

“Syria: To bomb or not to bomb”

By Pastor Rasheed Z. Baaith

     “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”  (St. Matthew 24:7 -8)

Whatever decision President Obama makes about bombing Syria, the cost and repercussions around that decision will be exceedingly high.

If he decides to bomb Syria it will be against the will of the majority of the American people and much of the world. Americans are war weary after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the dead there are still coming home and the cost in dollars is yet to be totaled.

The world remembers the “proof” Colin Powell and the Bush administration offered to justify attacking Saddam Hussein for having weapons of mass destruction. Those weapons have never been found and America’s credibility has never recovered.  To say most are viewing the substantiation offered by our government about who’s responsible for that gas attack with a great deal of doubt is an understatement. Everyone who is suspicious of the veracity of what is being said can be said to have justification to feel as they do.

If the President does not do what he promised to do if Syria crossed his “red line,” he suffers loss both globally and domestically. Globally America’s allies with few exceptions will believe the President either speaks insincerely or is powerless to evolve policy. Our enemies, especially terrorists will believe he is vulnerable to domestic political pressures and they may become even more aggressive and inhumane in what they do and where. The consequences for the world are unimaginable.

What does all of this mean for our community? Either way the decision goes it means that the President’s domestic agenda gets delayed if not completely forgotten; if he goes against the will of the American people and Congress, both blocs will do all they can to prevent President Obama legislation from becoming law or policy. Because our primary concern is domestic issues such as unemployment, education, violence in all its permutations, and civil rights, we will continue to do poorly. We get little enough attention as it is.

If he goes with those who don’t want to bomb Syria, he is still going to be perceived as being so weak politically even the members of his own party won’t support him when he needs them to. While he may not become effete he will become ineffective.

Still, President Obama understood the complexities of the Presidential office when he sought it. Sometimes there is no good decision to be made; there is only action to be taken. Think about it.