What the United States Should Consider before Striking Syria.

Posted on September 10, 2013

In has been all over the news recently about Syria’s civil war and the Syrian government escalating the conflict by allegedly using chemical weapons against the rebels and civilians. The evidence that this was the case is growing everyday. U.S. President Barack Obama said that the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government would be crossing a “red line” and the United States government would react to that transgression.

Now that Syria has crossed the line, the president and other U.S. officials (although not all) are considering military action against Syria. The pressure from international law and from other countries to punish Syria for its’ actions is also mounting. President Obama has said however that putting boots-on-the-ground is off the table. The only thing being considered, thus far, is targeted strikes from naval ships.

There are five things that the United States before it does anything with regards to punishing Syria.

1. It should make sure that any attack against Syria is devastating. The main justification for attacking Syria is not only to punish its’ government but to show the international community that actions such as this will not be tolerated. When this is considered, anything anyone does to punish another country should be strong enough to prevent the problem from every arising again.
2. The scope of the attack should only be to punish Syria for its’ use of chemical weapons and not to purposefully turn the war in the rebels favor.
3. The punishment should not purposefully include any civilian targets and genuine care should be given to avoid civilian casualties.
4. The United States should not be the only one in involved in the punishment, other countries must not only give their vocal support but also should give resources. If it is an action to protect international norms and laws then it should be an international effort.
5. Once the message (attack) is finished the United States and other countries should have no further military contact with Syria. (No occupation forces).

This is just a list of some things I think the United States should consider before doing anything in Syria and is not representative of whether or not I think the United States should do anything at all.
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