Once again the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against the Syrian people. Images of the wounded lying in hospital beds and children dead in the streets were seen around the world. I find the current situation in Syria anything but acceptable. This is precisely the brand of tyranny and stunning human rights violations that the world should abhor, yet Assad remains in power with the blessing of Russia and Iran.
So what is the United States going to do about it? I understand that simply taking Assad out isn’t an option — our creation of a power vacuum in Iraq was partially responsible for the rise of ISIS, and the person or regime that takes over could simply be worse than Assad is. Furthermore, ousting Assad in the name of ending oppression, while noble, would not set the country up for future success as a democracy or a stable country. If the Syrians want freedom, they must attain it for themselves with minimal U.S. involvement. They would need to feel that such a victory was theirs first and foremost.
In the meantime, I wholeheartedly support airstrikes against Assad’s military bases, and I don’t think the U.S. should shy away from collateral Russian deaths as Donald Trump did with his recent missile strike against a Syrian airfield. The Russians are fully cognizant of their role in Syria. They murder children even as Assad does. Those who support Assad must be held accountable — his wrongdoings are by extension theirs. If they must pay with human lives then so be it, but I refuse to sit idly and pretend that innocents aren’t daily becoming victims of a murderous dictator merely half a world away.