Obscenities

According to Secretary of State John Kerry, the supposed use of chemical weapons in Syria, according to him and many others at least, by the government of Syria is a "moral obscenity".

It certainly seems like there is a drum beat towards war. This war drum beats all to regularly in the world, and most definitely has become part of politics as usual here in the United States.  Which country or group should be or will be attacked has become a common theme for those who occupy the White House and seats in Congress.  And of course, none of the proponents of military violence claim any harmful aspirations.  Each and every one argues that violence and destruction are simply the only way to bring about peace, the Nobel Peace Prize winning president included.

Now let's talk a bit about obscenities.  Obscene is the fact that the situation with Syria is happening in similar ways as did the situation with Iraq.  Claims are made that there is certainty that the Syrian government used chemical weapons.  Weapons inspectors are now on the ground to verify if the chemical weapons were in fact used at the request of certain world powers.  Even though these inspectors are doing the job requested of them, those same powers are trying to argue that it is too late despite the fact that experts are denying that it is too late.  Experts are saying that they indeed will be able to make determinations about the use of those weapons.

Obscene is the fact that the government which rushed to start a war in Iraq based on claims of certainty and whose claims were absolutely and completely disproved, is willing to make claims of certainty that would likely lead again to military action before any definitive results have been announced.

Obscene is that the government which chose to create an unnecessary and illegal war in Iraq has not ever found it prudent to prosecute the people responsible for the deaths of an incredible number of innocent lives, both Iraqi and American.

Obscene is that there really isn't an outcry by the American public demanding to bring those criminals to justice.  If a president's administration chooses not to pursue justice in order to pretend that there is something about the office of the president that places those who have held that office above the law, then that kind of administration cannot demand the kind of respect that it would hope for.  That kind of administration cannot be expected to base it's decisions on what's right and wrong.  And that kind of administration which has decided to not prosecute those who lied about the reasons which started a war which turned out to be unjustifiable, cannot be trusted to act in a way any better than the other.

Had the Obama administration attempted to have the war criminals punished for their crimes, all of their claims about obscenities in Syria wouldn't be as obscene as they are now.  No. We should not be launching military strikes against Syria based on assurances by the Obama administration that there is no question that Syria's government is guilty of doing something that hasn't even been investigated fully.

In fact, it would be illegal for the United States to launch any kind of aggression against Syria without a Security Council resolution supporting action.  It doesn't matter if Obama's administration claims that it would be in the U.S' interest.  Where is it in the Constitution that it is in the U.S.' interest to violate international law?  Where is it in the Constitution that it is the U.S.' role in the world to be the enforcer.  When was it that the U.S. gained the right the be the sole arbiter of what's right or wrong  and when a war is OK?  Never.  It's simply that our military might coupled with an unmatched arrogance and some sense of divine right gives the person who holds the office of the presidency enough confidence that he or she, whoever it may be, can do whatever they want.

We really need to look into the true obscenities that are around us.