What’s coming ahead has never been seen before. Except it has. Twice.
Last Saturday, some of the allies of World War 2, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, to be specific, launched joint air strikes on three of Syria’s chemical weapons facilities. In the days following the attack, the classic power struggle between countries had already developed. Russia came forward with their support of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and while China is against the use of chemical weaponry, foreign minister Wang Yi advocates for a political solution to resolve the conflict in Syria rather than the aggressive approach taken by the United States.
In case you are unaware of the turmoil in Syria, the country has been at war for the past 7 years. A vast number of Sunni rebel groups who were unhappy with the state of the regime under the ruling of al-Assad took action and began the long civil war. In the past few weeks, al-Assad allegedly launched chemical attacks on a city under the control of the rebel forces which led to America and its allies getting involved.
But how did Russia get involved? Over the years, Putin has strengthened relations with Syria and according to CNN, Russia is Syria’s biggest arms supplier and a backer of their militia.
The question to raise here is: what makes this instance of conflict different than all the others?
In all past instances, America has attempted to keep themselves out of the conflict for as long as possible. Our country has always advocated maintaining a distance from the turmoil. In fact, it took the Zimmerman note and the Pearl Harbor attack to drag America into world wars in the past. So why are we getting involved so easily now? Especially, since our current president allegedly has a very good relationship with the leader of Russia. The answer is simple: America and its priorities come first. Trump ran his campaign on the ideals of putting our nation ahead of everyone else and for once his promises are coming to fruition.
In fact, the issue here is not one of war — although that is a huge problem as well- the issue here is the ethical dilemma. By staying out of the conflict, America can save itself the time and money all the while maintaining their relationship with Russia. By getting involved America emphasizes that they don’t crumble in the face of dictators, checks a country before it becomes too powerful, and saves hundreds of thousands of lives. Regardless of our fickle president, the daring administration, or the fact that America is currently divided on almost every core issue, it is time for our nation to separate the actions from the man and decide whether these measures are for the good of the nation.
In times that are so unsure, the only thing we can rely on is Trump, Putin and al-Assad are taking us to World War 3.
Photo: J-S Romeo
