SYRIA, IF I WERE THE DESPOT IN CHIEF

If I were Despot in Chief, the world would be watching me to see what I would decide about Syria using chemical weapons against its own citizens.

I  would decide to do nothing.

Sure, I know the world decided that countries are supposed to be prevented from using chemical weapons. But did you notice that although international law forbids their use, Syria used them anyway? That's the way it is with criminals. If guns are against the law, criminals get them anyway. If  the use of chemical weapons is against the law, countries use them anyway.

The use of chemical weapons in Syria killed a lot of innocent men, women and children. If we retaliate, a lot of innocent men, women and children will become collateral damage. As much as we would like to pretend that we could control our missiles, some innocent men, women and children would be killed.

Dead people are dead, regardless of what killed them. Heart attacks kill people, cancer kills people and bombs, both conventional and chemical, kill people.

If we "retaliate" (someone might want to look up the meaning of that word...but they probably won't and don't care, anyway), we are going to be accused of killing innocent men, women and children. And we will be guilty.

If Syria continues to use chemical weapons, they will be accused of killing innocent men, women and children, And they will be guilty.

So, is it better for a government to kill its own people, or for those people to be killed by "outsiders?"

Of course, neither is desirable. But outlaws are outlaws and terrorists are terrorists, whether acting as small groups or as a government.

If I were the Despot in Chief, I would do nothing to Syria UNLESS they use chemical weapons on countries other than their own. In that case I would use the resources of the American military to wipe Syria off the map.

"But Joe," I hear you whining. "How can you be so heartless as to kill all of those "innocent" Syrians?"

In the first place, the exceptionalism or America is its commitment to the freedom of its people and their control of their government. That freedom did not come by accident. It was won by the people. If other countries' people do not take steps to control their government and their government commits atrocities, the people bear part of the blame, since they did nothing to cause their government to be controlled by them. They are not as innocent as it might seem.

So, yes, I would make mince meat out of Syria, IF they went international with their use of chemical weapons. As long as they did not go outside their own borders, I would do nothing...no red lines, not huffing and puffing, no intervention of any kind.

That's what I would do. You might disagree. That's OK. This is America. You have the right to be wrong.