Syria - What's In It for US?

"Hey guys - we're the US government and we're here to help."  Yeah, right!  As if the Syrians will have a warm place in their heart for America now or ever.  So it's not friends we're trying to make - I think it's fair to say that the Syrian rebels (that include factions of Al Qaeda, by the way) would just as soon saw off our heads after Obama's surgical strikes as now.  This time we have no coalition or U.N. resolution.  Russia and China say don't go - so we're just going to piss them off.  I heard today there's a big pipeline in the works between Europe and Asia that goes through Syria, so those guys may have a bunch of money at stake.  Syria and Iran say they'll rain missiles down on Israel if we attack, so it potentially endangers Israel.  Plus, who knows what attacks Islamists will launch in the West or in the U.S. in retaliation?  So what exactly is the upside?!  I just don't see one unless this is really all about justice for people senselessly slaughtered in the Middle East - hardly a rare occurrence.  I guess there's one other upside:  Obama can save some face and be tough about a "Red Line" he declared a year ago.  Either way, it seems like a risky mission and I think they should strip Obama of his Nobel Peace Prize the way they decrown Miss America when she gets caught smoking pot or committing some other lapse of judgment.

Personally, I think we should be bringing our military home rather than getting involved in anything.  I think Obama may have even campaigned on that.  But as long as we're playing World Cop, let's choose our side a little better.  So far, we're 0 for 5 as far as I can tell.  In Libya, Egypt I, and Syria, we backed radical Islamists, e.g. the Muslim Brotherhood or even Al Qaeda, believe it or not.  But when secular-seeming protesters fought against their regime in Iran and Egypt II, our position was to stay out of it.  In the case of Syria, there is no good side and we have nothing to gain by being involved.

The only inspirational thing in this debacle I saw was how Parliament in Britain got together, debated the issue, and voted to sit this one out.  How civilized of their prime minister to appeal to their Parliament before committing their nation to an act of war!  I mean, it's not like this is an emergency where the sovereignty of the British or the U.S. was directly attacked or anything.  Imagine Obama getting this mad when a bunch of Islamic extremists attacked our consulate in Benghazi and murdered our ambassador!  That at least would have made some sense.

So let's hope we don't needlessly spark anything bigger than it already is and thank you Ted Cruz for the wonderful tweet yesterday (below).  He's one of us!