Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin write for CounterPunch:
[…] This recent chemical attack is just the latest in a war that has taken the lives of over 400,000 Syrians. If the Trump administration decides to escalate US military involvement by bombing the Syrian government’s power centers of Damascus and Aleppo and pushing rebel fighters to hold territory for a new government, the carnage—and chaos—will increase.
Just look at recent U.S. experience in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. In Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, various militia factions that the U.S. government had supported raced to Kabul for control of the capital and their fight for power in successive corrupt governments has led to the violence that continues 15 years later. In Iraq, the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) government-in-exile, led by Ahmed Chalabi, disintegrated and the U.S.-appointed Pro-Consul Paul Bremer so mismanaged the country that it provided the opportunity for ISIS to fester in American-operated prisons and develop plans to form its caliphate in Iraq and Syria. In Libya, the U.S./NATO bombing campaign “to protect Libyans” from Qaddafi resulted in a country split in three parts.
Would U.S. bombing in Syria lead us into a direct confrontation with Russia? And if the U.S. was successful in toppling Assad, who among the dozens of rebel groups would take his place and would they really be able to stabilize the country?
Instead of more bombing, the Trump administration should pressure the Russian government to support a UN investigation into the chemical attack and take bold steps to seek a resolution of this dreadful conflict. In 2013, the Russian government said it would bring President Assad to the negotiating table. That offer was ignored by the Obama administration, which felt it was still possible for rebels it supported to overthrow the Assad government. That was before the Russians came to the rescue of its ally Assad. Now is the time for President Trump to use his “Russia connection” to broker a negotiated solution.
- If Trump Wanted To Help Syrians, He Would Lift Refugee Ban and Fund Humanitarian Aid
- Hours before missile strikes, Hillary said the US should attack Assad’s airfields
- The Case Against Another Intervention in Syria
- US Bombs Syria: The War Machine Hums On Under Trump
- This Isn’t the Foreign Policy Trump Campaigned On
- Will Washington’s Hawks Get the Syria War They’ve Always Wanted?
- 45 times Trump said attacking Syria was a bad idea and might start World War III
- The US Strike on Syria Underscores Trump’s Media-Fueled Worldview
- Trump shows we finally have a fearless leader back in the White House
- Why the United States’ Use of Force Against Syria Violates International Law
- Yet Another President Commits the Ultimate War Crime of Launching a War of Aggression
- Tomahawk maker Raytheon fuels defense-sector rally after Syrian missile strike
- Oil hits one-month high after U.S. missile strike in Syria
- Tillerson: Steps Already Underway for US Removal of Assad
- Israeli minister: Syria strike repositioned America as regional leader
- Saudi Arabia announces full support for US military strikes
- Turkey’s Erdogan Welcomes US Attack on Syria
- Syria Slams US Aggression After Overnight Attacks
- Russia suspends military communication line with US in Syria
- US Attacks Syria: Scores of Missiles Fired
