Exclusive - Will US Military Intervention Lead to a Spiral of Violence?

Neelam Mathews

Aug 31, 2013

They say history repeats itself along with all the mistakes. Now it seems the US might once again be putting its internal security at risk with its decision on military intervention on Syria following its chemical weapons attack. Even as Secretary of State John Kerry explained why military action against Syria was justified, the Heritage Foundation slammed the decision saying it lacked strategy and would not deter Syria to act again, leading to a spiral of violence and escalation of civil war.

On Kerry’s remark: “And history would judge us all extraordinarily harshly if we turned a blind eye to a dictator's wanton use of weapons of mass destruction ………,” Brett Schaefer, Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, said in a concall: “A lot of this is based on emotion that Secy Kerry is playing on.”

It is also clear now that Kerry’s reference to many countries willing to support the US were “exaggerated,” barring the French, “that was a former colonial power in Syria…is the only one to commit military capability,” added Schaefer.

Luke Coffey, Margaret Thatcher Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said what the rest of the world, this side of the Atlantic, is thinking. “There should be more response from Syria’s immediate neighbors (that took a week to condemn the act)….The US sold them billions of dollars worth of defense equipment so they can take a bigger role in security….It is time our Middle East partners shoulder more responsibility.” Wonder what the Arab League has to say about this?

Kerry confirmed: “We also know that we have a president who does what he says that he will do. And he has said very clearly that whatever decision he makes in Syria, it will bear no resemblance to Afghanistan, Iraq or even Libya. It will not involve any boots on the ground. It will not be open-ended. And it will not assume responsibility for a civil war that is already well underway.” These words, to an objective listener, are ominous.

Ultimately, the arrogance seeps through. “It is also profoundly about who we are. We are the United States of America. We are the country …… always tried to honor a set of universal values around which we have organized our lives and our aspirations….. this matters to us, and it matters to who we are. And it matters to leadership and to our credibility in the world,” said Kerry.

The fact is, this time around, there are few that will back the US in its military intervention and though the world will once again see hi-tech weapons demonstrated on their TV sets, the action may well open a can of worms, and the US will have nobody to blame but itself.

Only history will tell.