Obama’s Real Syria Problem
Barack Obama is considering military action against Syria for
apparently using chemical warfare against innocent civilians. Any military action would not include boots
on the ground, occupation, or have as its goal the overthrow of the Assad
regime. The objective would be to punish
Syria and to drive home the point to all nations that the international
community will enforce the norm against using chemical weapons.
But Mr. Obama has a credibility problem, and it does not just
stem from the British Parliament’s vote against military action and the impossibility
of getting the endorsement of the UN security council. No, the heart of Mr. Obama’s credibility
problem is that he has long been a strong supporter of chemical warfare against
innocent civilians.
Millions of unborn children are aborted through chemical
attacks in the United States, and Mr. Obama has been an outspoken
supporter. Not only that, he has opposed
efforts at recognizing the pain caused to both the babies and their mothers,
and he has forced taxpayers
and even religious institutions to pay for the brutality, in contradiction to
American law.
So when Mr. Obama gives a stern warning about the brutality
of the Syrian attacks, their violation of international norms, and the
punishment they merit, a reasonable person doesn’t know whether to laugh or to
cry.
But the problem is not only Obama’s. It’s one that has plagued our country since
at least 1973. We have heard, in recent
years, the debate over whether the United States should be “the world’s
policeman,” and whether we have the military capability to do so. But a more fundamental question is whether a
society that is increasingly built on the culture of death has any moral
capability to be a leader at all, let alone enforce the values of human rights
and human dignity.
A fundamental principle in philosophy is that one can not
give what one does not possess. As our
culture no longer possesses justice and righteousness, there is no way we can
give them to anyone else. The use and proliferation of chemical weapons is something no one should want, but as we consider the need to deter Syria, we must first focus on repentance
for ourselves.
