I don’t usually disagree with Dennis Kucinich but when I am told on TV that his PAC plans to punish Democratic members of Congress who vote for military intervention in Syria, I think he is being unfair.
What would you do if you were a Democratic member of Congress and were asked to support your president at this terrible time?
As for me, I might vote to give President Obama the limited window he seeks for a gesture of protest against Assad’s use of chemical weapons, which is clearly banned under international law.
Yes, I would have to hold my nose to do it. Obviously, this is the responsibility of the UN and not the United States. But we all know that Russia has veto power over UN intervention, and Russia’s Putin is an Assad ally who would block any action to protect the people of Syria against that maniacal despot.
What can anyone do in such a situation? One solution might be to redraw the UN in a more responsible way, expelling rogue nations like Russia from the Security Council. But do you think such action is even remotely possible? I don’t.
The world has inherited a flawed instrument in the UN. It was created at a time when Russia was an ally of the West in the struggle against Hitler. But Russia has proved in the years since World War II that it is no friend of the West, no ally of democracy, no supporter of justice, no cradle of progress. The despotic communism of the Soviet Union has been replaced by the rule of former KGB spies, and the Russian mob has exploded into an international cancer.
It looks as if we are stuck with this situation. If only China would abandon its support of Russia. But China, as much as it has changed, is still a dictatorship, and wants no part of western democracy.
That’s how I see it, anyway. And it gives me the shivers.
So even though it would be against my better judgment to support the president’s plan to get involved in Syria, I wouldn’t wish to hang him out to dry. He made that unwise remark about drawing a red line, and he is stuck with it.
And I am loathe to allow the continued massacre of innocent men, women and – especially – children.
The bottom line is that I would be tempted to let President Obama fire off a few cruise missiles to show he wasn’t bluffing.
Of course, that has its downside, too. What if Russia steps in? Do we take on Russia, Iran and China in a global conflagration?
Not likely, you say. But how do you know? Putin has already issued a warning against western intervention.
What a choice! Surely, you have to sympathize with the members of Congress this time!
But, remember I said I “might” vote for the president’s plan, not that I “would.”
It’s the kind of decision that would keep me awake at night.
I can’t find anything on the web to confirm what I think I heard on TV. So I might be wronging Kucinich. But if he really is planning to oppose Democrats who support the president on this one, I would urge him to reconsider. This is no time for hasty decisions.
It’s a time to ponder and pray.
