Thankee tips hat in salute
No disagreement, though as I said, it’s MESSY over there, and even more so than I was aware of (with the . . ahem. . family issues), and definitely more so than most of the politicians who are making said decisions.
Historically we. . . well, we haven’t done all that well in making these judgement calls, have we? Other than WWII there’s not one ‘police action’ we’ve engaged in that we can say confidently worked out peachy, most of them work out horribly.
Adding foreigners to the mix is. . DANGEROUS. Because it adds a new sort of emotional bonfire that can create a new type of disgruntled, angry person. We have all kinds of movies here about us getting in
Cruise missiles. . . yeah, you know what I’m thinking there, right? I mean, I geek out over military tech, but that doesn’t mean that collateral damage isn’t a very real and tragic thing.
Now, I agree . . . if we’re talking ‘people under fire trying to get out’, then that very specific scenario is one I support, but I’ve yet to see our government behave in such an even-handed way, and that includes the current administration. . . sure, you and I can find that one benefit, but what are the odds that’s a primary focus when push comes to shove? It hasn’t really happened yet, and we’ve done this a few dozen times now over the past couple of decades.
Yes, I have trust issues, and they are well founded. I know each situation must be taken in it’s own right, but I’m not seeing any actual . . .wisdom, at least not on the side of our administration. I’m sorry, but I fully expect things to go horribly.
Meanwhile, we have all these movies here that illustrate very well how easy it is to dehumanize a foreign power, especially one that’s technologically superior, and our heroes engage in tactics that are frequently terrorist-like and we cheer them on. . and that’s a nice, clean MOVIE, y’know? The real world is messier. It’s a function of our humanity, not nationality or creed.
Actually, not ‘unprecedented’ in this very specific scenario. . . but yes, it’s not unprecedented for a political power to fake or create an attack on their own people that looks like the other side, either to create justification for war or to peel allies away from the other side. It’s nasty, but it happens. We had the Gulf of Tonkin incident and we can’t forget the modern classic, right?
I, personally, lean towards it being someone under Assad’s regime, though how direct it is I can’t say (not that I’d say he’s above such things, but I suspect he wouldn’t consider it politically viable, and he IS a politician, right?. I don’t suspect the rebels, but we’ve been lied to in this country and it didn’t end well when we trusted, did it?
I have always donated primarily to the Red Cross/Red Crescent, quite a lot actually. Though now all I have the resources to do is to try to do something more important than just throwing money at a problem. I do think they’re an excellent charity though and one of the few I’ve generally trusted (Doctors Without Borders is another). Glad you’ve got similar tastes there 
This is an awful situation, and I do see multiple sides, I’ve just changed over the years and learned a few painful lessons about the before-and-after of our military interventions. I can be part of that one specific scenario (and in fact I’d rather just send tanks then, they’re quite good at getting in the way of things, and I’ll drive a tank myself and happily get in the way even if it’s a sacrificial act that saves a dozen civilians. I’d just rather be sure that we’re spending more resources on taking care of the refugees than fighting in a foreign land.
