I chose this article as the Soldiers’ Article of the
month, as on this date, March 15, 2011 was the beginning of the Syria Civil
War. Please
see a similar Blog post by going here.
NOTICE: The following article is written by
the author itself and not by me, I am not trying to violate their copyright. I
will give some information on them.
PAGE
TITLE: http://www.glennbeck.com/
ARTICLE
TITLE: Why I Am Against
War in Syria
DATE: Tuesday November 20, 2012
AUTHOR: Glenn Beck
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Glenn Edward
Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative, television
network producer, media personality, radio host, author, entrepreneur, and
political commentator. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated
talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio
Networks. He formerly hosted the Glenn Beck television program, which ran from
January 2006 to October 2008 on HLN and from January 2009 to June 2011 on the
Fox News Channel. Beck has authored six New York Times-bestselling books. Beck
is the founder and CEO of Mercury Radio Arts, a multimedia production company
through which he produces content for radio, television, publishing, the stage,
and the Internet. It was announced on April 6, 2011, that Beck would
"transition off of his daily program" on Fox News later in the year
but would team with Fox to "produce a slate of projects for Fox News Channel
and Fox News' digital properties". Beck's last daily show on the network
was June 30, 2011. In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter named Beck on its
Digital Power Fifty list. Beck's supporters praise him as a constitutional
stalwart defending traditional American values while his critics contend he
promotes conspiracy theories and employs incendiary rhetoric for ratings.
The anti-war Glenn Beck?
I’ll admit it doesn’t exactly roll off the
tongue. After all, I used to be guy on the sidelines cheering the ‘freedom on
the march’ argument every time a president wanted to lob missiles or put boots
on the ground somewhere.
But that all changed for me several years ago
when I began to realize this democracy building mentality was a progressive
mentality. Discovering the progressive strain of politics existed was a major
pivot point in my life. I’m really big on pivot points – if you have a major
change on an issue it should be accompanied by something so memorable you
remember ever detail in the room when you discovered it. I remember being our
Radio City studios when I heard Hillary Clinton explain she didn’t like to be
called liberal but preferred being called an early 20th century
progressive. I started researching and my eyes were opened to the fact
that progressives were marching forward while regular liberals and
conservatives were simply being used. That’s my pivot point and the main reason
why I’m against war in Syria today.
I want to address everyone making the opposite
argument today than they did 10 years ago:
Why have you switched?
Are you doing it merely because of politics or
because of loyalty to Obama? Have you had an honest pivot point?
Too much is at stake to not know or admit the
honest answer to this question. You may disagree with me on almost everything I
say – that’s fine — but I defy you to look at the facts of Syria and come away
concluding this is something America should be engaging in.
War with Syria is suicidal and here are just a few reasons why.
China’s Foreign Minister said American should
‘think thrice’ before acting and exercise ‘extreme caution’ in what is a clear
declaration of support for Assad’s regime. Russia has unabashedly come to the
aid of Assad by sending a steady stream of weapons and recently they bolstered
their naval presence near the Syrian coast with a missile cruiser and a
destroyer among other ships. Iran, of course, has vowed to support Syria ‘to
the end’ in the face of possibly military strikes from the United States.
Since the Arab Spring the Middle East has come
unraveled – something that didn’t seem possible given its already volatile
nature. Egypt is on the verge of civil war, Libya is suffering in lawless ruin,
and Syria is mired in a deadly civil war that’s killed hundreds of thousands of
people. The Assad regime, the radical terrorists fighting against Assad, and
the Obama administration itself all admit a limited and measured strike from
the United States will neither end the civil war nor change regimes.
So why bother doing it? What is this really all
about? Here are a few of the keys:
-Assad saw what happened in Egypt and Libya and
he’s making sure he does not suffer the same fate. He’s a dictator desperately
trying to hold onto his power through any means possible.
-Iran doesn’t have many allies around the
world, but Syria is one of them. Iran depends on Syria to funnel weapons to
terrorist organization Hezbollah, whose main base of operation is in Lebanon.
Hezbollah views any threat to the Assad regime as a threat to Palestinians and
Lebanon.
-Syria hosts a Russian naval base on the
Mediterranean and Russia needs the access to warm water ports or else they are
either land locked or ice locked.
-Another major factor is oil & natural gas.
Syria is one of the most strategic places for pipelines to flow into Europe.
Qatar proposed a massive pipeline that would weave through Syria, but Assad
turned that down in 2009 and instead partnered up with Russia and Iran to get
the pipeline, which is due to open in 2016.
When questioned about the high cost of the war,
Secretary of State John Kerry assured Americans by saying Arab nations have
agreed to fund the entire cost of the war. Certainly this isn’t out of the
kindness of their hearts or because they enjoy the United States getting
militarily involved in Middle Eastern affairs – it’s because there’s a boat
load of money at stake. If you want to figure out which side of the Syria
conflict a particular nation is on, just figure out if they benefit or are
harmed by the ‘Islamic pipeline’ and you’ll likely have your answer.
But there is another factor at play:
Destabilization.
I’ve talked a lot about the Archduke Ferdinand
moment. When Archduke Ferdinand (of Austria-Hungary) was assassinated in Bosnia
in 1914 it triggered a chain reaction that ultimately led to World War I.
Here’s what happened:
Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian
nationalist who was protesting Austria-Hungary’s control over Bosnia. Serbia at
the time was trying to gain control over Bosnia.
Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
Russia mobilized to give military aid to
Serbia, an ally.
Germany then declared war on Russia.
When a Tunisian fruit cart vendor set himself
on fire in protest and died, the President likened his actions to that of Rosa
Parks. High praise considering Parks helped spark one of the most important
civil rights movements in history. I didn’t see it that way –I saw it as 1914
all over again and another chance for extremists to attempt to redraw the map
through war.
I believe I was right.
We all know the powerful images and the message
of peaceful protest that came out of the civil rights movement. What has come
from the Tunisian fruit cart vendor?
We have not seen peaceful marches – we’ve seen
the violent overthrow of governments in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen. We’ve
seen devastating civil war in Syria for over two and a half years and hundreds
of thousands of people dead. We’ve seen radical Islamists murdering Christians
and eating the hearts out of their sworn enemy on videotape. We’ve
seen American journalists raped in the streets, Priests beheaded, scores of
civilians brutally executed in the streets. We’ve seen Russia, Iran, China, the
United States preparing and posturing for war on a global scale.
I’m having a really hard time finding Rosa Parks anywhere near this colossal
mess.
It isn’t some political game for us to get
involved in so those who have made threats can save a little face. ‘Limited’
and ‘measured’ means nothing to the family whose home was just obliterated by a
stray bomb. It means nothing to the Christians, the moderate Muslims, the
homosexuals, the atheists, or anyone else who won’t submit to the will of a
dictator nor the dictates of Sharia Law under radical Islamic rule. Try this –
put yourself in the shoes of the typical woman in Syria. Are they
excited about the prospect of United States military strikes? What is the best
possible outcome for them?
First they have to survive the bombings. If
they manage to accomplish that, they’ll face one of two scenarios. Either Assad
remains in power and they have to live in fear of government crackdowns OR
Assad is ousted and the people are forced to live under radical Islamic rule
and the harsh conditions of Sharia Law.
The cost of getting involved is far too high
and it’s the people of Syria are the ones who will pay the price. It will
eventually cost all citizens of the globe as it will put us another step closer
to World War III.
And for what? America to save face? To Secure
pipelines?
The time for politics and party loyalty is
over. Do your own homework. If you just take the administration’s word for it
(or John McCain or John Boehner or Lindsey Graham’s for that matter) that it’s
‘slam dunk’ case, I believe you are part of the problem. Likewise, if you are
against it just because I said so but you really don’t know why – you are part
of the problem too. You are stopping, dare I say it – progress.
If we continue to allow others to dictate our
thinking then we deserve what we reap.
But the innocent people who will suffer in the
Middle East do not.
Featured image credit:
Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images.
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