Poison Gas in Syria

Still contemplating the situation in Syria relating to the use of poison gas.  And what do I know about it?  I read reports—are the reports accurate?
 

I know poison gas is a nasty thing.  I know world organizations have outlawed poison gas as a weapon.  But they’ve outlawed a lot of things. How can this ban be enforced?  Maybe it can’t be enforced.

I have written my congress people, opposing direct U.S. military action in Syria “at this time.”  I suppose I should have called....(or should I??).  “Direct.”  “At this time.”  But maybe later (or sooner?), with the proper wisdom.

It's curious. When the U.S. invaded Iraq, I felt like I was one of the few people in the country who was neutral. But I couldn't commit either way. Instead I was, perhaps, simply numb -- stunned?

As a long-time member of Amnesty International, I knew what a heartless dictator Saddam Hussein was. But I also was pretty sure that George "W." was acting from extremely questionable motives.

So I stood and watched as American tanks moved into Iraq, then I sent a card to the Muslim Students Association on my campus.  They in turn invited me to their meetings.  I attended a few and met a few of their members.

Now, years later, I’m left with much to ponder.  Assad is pretty heartless…

It’s easy to condemn and punish someone when you’re enemies anyway.  

And speaking of Syria, poison gas, and the world in general...

I’ve been watching videos of one of the great tangos of all time -- "Cambalache" ("The Junk Shop")—its theme is the insanity of the 20th Century (and it was written in 1934, before the depth of the insanity and inhumanity had even become apparent.  Several videos are compilations of photos chronicling the best and worst (mostly the worst) people and events of the last hundred or so years.  There are different videos, with different compilations.  What would you chose?  We see pictures of starving children and parents, the World Trade Center towers bursting into flame.   Pictures of Hitler and Bin Laden.  George W. Bush.  Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa.  A few pictures from the Vietnam War.

The concept of “The Junk Shop” is that everything is tossed in together, and priced the same:  the “ass” and the “great professor”—they’re all treated as of equal value.

I don’t recall any photographs relating to the Cambodian genocide, the “Dirty War” in Argentina, the Japanese (or Indonesian) tsunamis, the Bhopal disaster, Chernobyl…  I suppose the choices would be personal.  There were photographs or paintings of various leaders (I think one sequence was supposed to show a series of Latin American leaders—with particular “remarks” about Pinochet.  No pictures of Franco, though).

Curiously, the more I read about foreign governments, the more I appreciate the United States form of government.  Nevertheless, I grow more aware of its flaws.  Nothing is perfect.

So the world must say something about Syria.  But what to say?  What can we agree on?  That poison gas is nasty and has been outlawed and shouldn’t be used.  But can we stop it?