Syria...A No-Win Situation

As U.N. inspectors try and find evidence on the use of chemicals to mount a case against the Syrian regime, or perhaps the rebels as a remote possibility, Syrian President Assad continues to deny that he used chemical weapons against his own people. U.S. President Obama stated a year ago that if Assad used chemical weapons, it would result in action. It was, as Obama stated, an action that would ‘cross the red line’. Now, President Obama is between a rock and a hard place, damned if he gets involved and damned if he doesn’t. Chances are, no matter what the U.S., Britain & France decide to do or not do, that part of the world has been and will continue to be dominated by power struggles rooted in misguided interpretations of religious ideology. Perhaps it is time western countries stop trying to change the world one country at a time. As callous as it may sound, let troubled countries sort through their own problems as intervention will not really change anything, except for the players. Bombs are still going off in Iraq. As the remaining U.S. troops in Afghanistan prepare to leave, the Taliban is getting ready to move back in and pick up where they left off. The seemingly good intentions of western countries to bring their democratic value systems to the less fortunate seldom generate long-term positive results.