Several debates have been going on as to whether the U.S. should intervene in Syria. Some have been questioning why the U.S has not made any intervention yet considering the dreadful situation that the country has plunged into. President Obama announced that using chemical weapons by Assad forces is a red line and would be unacceptable, a statement that makes you feel that killing people using other weapons is not that bad of a thing, and although Assad did indeed use chemical weapons on the defenceless population of Ghouta, president Obama apparently could not keep up to his word.
However, the argument that should be put on the table is why
are people expecting a heroic action from the U.S to save Syria and bring it to
salvation?
The simplest answer to that is because the U.S has the highest
number of foreign interventions in all times. A country that has been able to spread
and pertain its hegemony for a long time. It is, after all, a country that has
over 1000 military bases all around the world, and its interventions have been
quite significant. From overthrowing foreign governments that oppose its
ideology and interpretation of democracy, to killing innocent people in the war
on terror by committing terror itself. In a matter of fact listing all the
countries that the U.S has intervened in, in a direct or indirect way, would
take a long amount of time.
Take for example two of the recent U.S interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Iraq, the courageous intervention was an attempt, or so they
claimed, to bring down Saddam Husain and his assumed nuclear weapons, which
were never found. However, the invasion drifted into a war that lasted 8 years,
during which the Iraqi oil was exploited. Before the invasion the Iraqi oil was
completely nationalized, after the invasion, however, it became greatly privatized
by foreign companies to benefit from. 80% of oil production is being exported out
of Iraq, while Iraqis are struggling to meet their basic needs with 25% of the
population living in poverty.
The death toll exceeded 800,000 people. Even though the
invasion took place in 2003 and Saddam Husain was ousted and captured during
the same year, the war did not end till end of 2011. It was a war for oil with
no doubt about it. The invasion was well planned ahead with the purpose of
taking over Iraq’s oil, not to bring down a dictator or to relieve the world
from the threat of “invisible” WMDs.
In the case of Afghanistan, the U.S invasion was merely
retaliation for the 9/11 bombing which Al-Qaida was accused for, even though it
was never proven. No hesitation, no delays. The U.S had to hit back immediately
to prove its deterrence capacity, which was proven very well in Afghanistan as
more than 30,000 people were killed. Mush more disappointing, Al-Qaeda was not
even close to diminishing, it became more powerful and more widely spread
across other countries. Furthermore, opium trade has increased exponentially
since the beginning of the invasion. The U.S installed Hamid Karzai as
president who is failing to restore order in the country and dismantle Taliban
and Al-Qaeda.
President Obama stated that troops will withdraw from
Afghanistan by the end of 2014. More than 10 years of war with a fake enemy
subverted Afghanistan, crushed it socially and economically, and turned it into
a haven for terrorists.
Syria fell into civil war between the Assad army and the
opposition forces, after peaceful protests took place two years ago. With Russia
and Iran, major Syria allies, backing the Assad regime, the process of overthrowing
the dictator and his regime is taking a long time. Thousands have been either
killed or displaced due to the atrocities committed by the current regime. The number
of refugees is over 2.5 million, and the numbers of who were killed is 100,000.
Moreover, a sectarian conflict is rising and spilling of the border to
neighboring countries. The Sunni opposition is fighting the Alawite Assad
regime, with Shiite Hezbollah siding by the regime the conflict is getting even
worse.
Thus, “the United States should intervene in Syria”
is rather an absurd argument. An intervention only comes with an interest. The
U.S has indeed a great interest in Syria, because removing Assad regime from
power means removing Iran’s and Russia’s only ally in the area, in addition to
protecting Israel from any implications the war might cause. However, Syria is
better off without the U.S intervention which will draw only subversion and
exploiting. Should the U.S intervene in Syria it would not be difficult to
predict the future for the country, Syria will get out of its civil war and
enter a new war with a western power.
