In a cool-as-a-cucumber interview with Charlie Rose for CBS News, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said would-be attackers should “expect everything” in the way of retaliation.
He also said “(Americans) should ask themselves, ‘what do wars give America?’ Nothing. No political gain. No economic gain. … This is the war that’s going to support al Qaeda and the same people that kill Americans on the 11th of September”
Strictly speaking, he has a point, though we are loathe to admit it. He is obviously not speaking in the interest of the United States here, but this is one of those rare “through the lookingglass” moments where ideologies happen to align in strange ways.
With no clear enemy, no clear goals and opposition among the American public pushing toward 80% against, most people on Main Street don’t want this war, and are showing up at town hall meetings to voice their strong objection to the administration’s flirtation with another Mid-East war that promises nothing but perpetual downside for the United States.
The only ones who benefit from an operation in Syria are the defense contractors who will be replenishing the spent materiel, including 200+ tomahawks launched from US warships (at a replacement cost of $1.4 Million each). One B2 Mission costs $2.1 Million round trip to Syria (not counting armaments), and a carrier battle group costs $40 Million a week to keep on-station. Mid-Terms are coming up, folks, so the pressure is on to fill donors “to the hairline” with cash, so the “natural cycle” of money-as-speech flows back to campaigns in 2014.
Meanwhile, at the G20 last week, Obama was shunned by world leaders on a receiving line, most of whom were not willing to even shake the man’s hand. We have come a long way from “Leader of the Free World,” in just a short period of time.
Here is the Charlie Rose Interview:
The Capitalist Perspective:
The administration and congress should be concerned about what is happening at home, until and unless the action in a foreign land directly affects the security of the United States. We’re talking about wishy-washy goals (no regime change…just an “unbelievably small” slap on the wrist), and a snoot full of unintended consequences.
Congress needs to listen to the people and vote NO on involvement in Syria. One administration official was quoted as saying “we’ll find the money” (for the attacks), when asked how the US could afford to undertake another war in the face of record unemployment and an unimaginably large debt form the last two wars. Where, exactly, are we “finding” it?
Let AMERICA rebuild for a change. Let’s get our businesses and schools and culture strong again. We don’t do that by being the global police force.
