Captain Save-A-Country

Friday, October 30th, Obama announced that we will be sending ground troops into Syria to battle the growing problem of ISIS. That announcement was not followed by positive feedback from the public. Many foresee it as a repeat of Iraq and Afghanistan, which were not successful campaigns in the eyes of the public. But here we go again, off to save another country that we have no obligation to and the result will probably be the same as many previous missions that involved us being Captain Save-A-Country.

Many will remember Obama's past stand on the Syrian civil war from 2013, where the White House tweeted Obama's quote "I will not put American boots on the ground in #Syria." Before coming to a conclusion on Obama's latest decision though, it would be valuable to understand the full picture, not just the one that the media wants to feed us.

The main crisis in Syria is a civil war that is uprooting it's people and causing them to seek refuge in surrounding countries. This civil war is not as simple as a two sided conflict, it involves four major groups that are all fighting for the crown. Our involvement in this conflict can be linked to an event that occurred late September when Russia launched airstrikes on ISIS. The importance of this event is hidden under the fact that a majority of those Russian airstrikes did not target ISIS forces but instead targeted rebel forces, also known as the Syrian Opposition. This bit of information can be looked at as a precursor to our involvement because the Syrian Opposition is the side that the US backs and have been supporting with armaments. This alarming situation is a clear indication of how the cold war from the 20th century has carried over into the current century with this proxy war going on between the US and Russia in Syria.

After learning all this though, it will make you wonder what we expect to  come out of this involvement and to answer that, you have to do one thing that explains a lot of the reasoning behind world political affairs, you have to follow the money. Currently there are two pipelines that are proposed to run through Syria to Turkey and beyond to Europe. One is called the Arab Gas Pipeline that runs from Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations to the south, the other is the Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline, also known as 'The Islamic pipeline' that runs from Iran. Syria's former president, Bashar Assad, is a loyal ally of Russia and Iran and with that alliance comes the rejection of the Arab Gas Pipeline that the west are favoring. So now you can see how just like most wars the US gets involved in, this one is another example of how economic affairs rule political affairs.

        
I don't support our role as Captain Save-A-Country but I do understand that the US is deeply rooted in foreign affairs to the point of our forced involvement. It is a fine line that we as a country have to make an educated decision on; like a game of chess, we either do nothing and watch or plan our strategy of control.