indiscriminate killing

Last night I watched horrible pictures from Syria … fathers holding their dead children … children dying … people overcome with grief from chemical warfare.

“Stand by while atrocities are taking place and you’re an accomplice.”

It reminded me of a scene from The West Wing:

C.J, joins Toby and Josh at the bar … all talking about foreign policy. C.J. asks Toby:

CJ: “The guy across the street is beating up a pregnant woman. You don’t go over there and try and stop it?”

Toby: “The guy across the street is beating up anybody, I like to think I go over and try and stop it. But we aren’t talking about the President going to Asia or the President going to Rwanda or the President going to Qumar. We’re talking about the President sending other people’s kids to do that.”

CJ: “That’s always what we’re talking about and in addition to being somebody’s kids they’re soldiers and sailors, and if we’re about freedom from tyranny then we’re about freedom from tyranny and if we’re not we should shut up.”

“Yes,” Josh says joining in.

“…On Sunday he’s taking an oath to ensure domestic tranquility,” Toby reminds his co-workers.

“And to establish justice and promote the general welfare,” C.J. shoots back. “Stand by while atrocities are taking place and you’re an accomplice.”

But Toby wants a real answer to the question, “...Why are you sending your kids across the street?”

After a moment, C.J. has an answer, “‘Cause those are somebody’s kids, too.”

Chemical warfare is different. Yeah. I just said that. It redefines the rules of engagement and it should redefine how one views solutions.

Look.

I have never been in the military and, I assume, killing another is something you never become comfortable with … but you have a job to do, an objective to meet and if someone is willing to kill you to stop you from that objective your responsibility, in part, is to have to kill those standing in the path of the objective.

I cannot envision it is ever done indiscriminately and knowing as many military people as I do … I know that objectives are rarely flippantly arrived at nor is killing the enemy a desire but rather a necessary evil of the objective.

Snipers have a specific objective. It is a job they are assigned and, I assume, that is how they can sleep at night.

Soldiers have specific objectives. It is a job they are assigned in which the enemy is tasked with killing them to stop them from their objective and they must respond in kind, I assume, that is how they can sleep at night.

Pilots have smart bombs, specific targets and work under the scrutiny of ethical behavior and, I assume, that is how they can sleep at night.

Officers assess specific objectives, assess costs & losses and get paid to make the tough go-or-no-go decisions and and, I assume, that is how they can sleep at night.

All of those things are never easy but always a discriminating choice of ‘do this and don’t do that’ where targets are selected and decisions made.

The use of chemical weapons is indiscriminate killing.

Specificity is neither an objective not a vision. It is the way of cowards and those unwilling to set objectives worth working for.

I will never suggest warfare is easy nor will I suggest focusing solely on specificity is a fair assessment of ethical or moral behavior on an issue which has some grayish edges once battle begins. But there is no grayish area on chemical warfare. It is black … only black.

Let’s be clear.

Assad is a legal president of a UN represented country.

But.

“Stand by while atrocities are taking place and you’re an accomplice.”

There are no palatable solutions only slightly more palatable of unpalatable solutions. But standing by and doing nothing is not a solution.

What would I do?

1. Declare Assad a war criminal. It automatically makes him illegal in the eyes of the world and unworthy of leadership & governing.
2. Call Russia … say “Assad is your puppet … find another one.” In my eyes Trump is in for a penny or in for a pound with Russia being involved in the Syrian regime, and America not being involved, … if Syria is to be Russia’s puppet state then let them do what they did in Chechnya and … well … a number of ex-soviet states … pick a new leader and prop him up. Just make sure he is not war criminal worthy.
3. Destroy chemical supplies. Send in soldiers if we must … use air force … I don’t care … and I don’t care if Syrian soldiers get killed in the cleansing. That is their cost for maintaining a supply. Oh. And warn Russia that if they have any Russians embedded in possible target locations … they will die also.

I am no moralist nor am I smart enough to distinguish nuances in moral arguments … and I clearly understand that not all “atrocities are created equal.”

But I do know that the choice to do nothing means — “stand by while atrocities are taking place and you’re an accomplice.”

Chemical warfare is indiscriminate killing. It demands a discriminating action.

I am relatively confident President Donald J Trump has no moral compass and I am absolutely confident President Donald J Trump has no desire to have the United States stand as a ‘beacon of moral leadership” globally … so I would appeal to one thing: “’cause those are somebody’s kids, too.”