During George H.W. Bush’s first term, America had the opportunity to take Saddam Hussein out of power. Instead, the forces were ordered to cease after 100 hours, allowing many Iraqi forces to escape and Hussein to stay in power.
In response to criticisms, Bush said that such a decision would have “incurred incalculable human and political costs …We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq.”
Of course, as everyone knows, the second President Bush was forced to do exactly that since Hussein was continuing to defy international agreements. Once Hussein was ousted from power, American forces occupied Iraq for many years.
Fast forward to today, where Bashar al Assad has ruled Syria with an iron fist, including recent use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians. In 2012, Obama had warned that America would respond promptly if Assad were to use chemical weapons, much less against his own civilians. However, Obama appears to be wavering on that announcement, despite the fact that top officials have reported that there is no doubt that chemical weapons were used in Syria. Obama has the benefit of hindsight, however, even the past does not provide him with a clear picture of where to go from here. With the first Bush, Obama learns the lesson that sometimes a tyrant must be taken out when the opportunity arises. On the other hand, the second Bush teaches Obama that such action will not be quick and easy, potentially leading to years of occupation.
The American military is the strongest in the world, and many men and women enlist in order to serve the ideals America represents. We as Americans believe that all individuals, regardless of native country, are guaranteed basic civil rights. As a result, our military fights to protect those rights, again, regardless of native country. I often hear that one of the military mantras is “to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.” To many people, this means taking out dictators that turn their weapons on their own civilians.
On the other hand, Americans grow weary of occupation. Iraq is a very recent example of that. Americans joined together in calling for military action against Hussein, but years later, many seemed to have forgotten that fact. Bush’s decision on Iraq raised his popularity at the beginning, but toward the end of his second term, Iraq was the cause of his decline in popularity.
So what should Obama do? Obama should make his decision without consideration of his own political ramifications, though that appears to be what he is doing. What he should be concerned with is the destruction of innocent lives at the hands of a tyrant. The American military is ready to answer the call to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. It is time Obama lets them.
