At our last meeting, the members of SALT discussed the pro’s and con’s of military intervention in Syria by the US government. Although on a personal level we all believed a tragedy is ongoing in Syria and that the violence and loss of life should cease, we maintained, on a vote of 10 to 3, that the US government should not intervene with military force. The three most compelling reasons to intervene in Syria were the loss of innocent life, the enforcement of international and moral standards, and the requests of allies. We strongly considered the first two pro’s, but concluded that there was not a severe national security threat to our allies, nor national interest to ourselves. Strong reasons not to intervene in Syria included the risk of escalation, the actions and connections of rebel groups, and the history of US ineffectiveness in the Middle East. There is not believed to be great danger of outright war with Syria’s allies, specifically Russia, there is however a real danger of a proxy war between the US and Russia in Syria. A proxy war in which the US and Russia pour arms, ammunition, and even soldiers into Syria to vent steam against one another while using idealistic excuses for the conflict. This would be catastrophic for all countries involved, particularly for the people of Syria who the US would attempt to help. The actions, such as the persecution of Christians, and the connections, to groups such as Al-Qaeda, of the rebel groups in Syria concerned our group greatly. The US certainly does not want a regime change gone awry on its hands. Would Syria’s situation be any better if Syria was led by a group of Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda, armed with everything from MiG fighter planes to chemical weapons? There could be even greater loss of life as the rebel groups took vengeance on Assad supporters, and there would be a serious threat to our allies, Turkey and Israel. The US should not decide between two evils. Finally, the historical account of the US in the Middle East has been less than inspiring. When considering the situation in Syria, it is easy to see a prolonged war with little effect, great cost, and no end in sight. There are compelling reasons to intervene in Syria, but until the US has, a plan that will avoid a prolonged proxy war and a botched regime change no military intervention should be undertaken. Our club does not have the confidence that either of these evils are avoided by the proposed plans for intervention.
***** Submitted by Thatcher Townson of S.A.L.T.*****
