What Most Americans Think About Syria
I followed last week’s debate on The Economist about whether or not military intervention was good in Syria.
On the one hand, some people argued that a forceful intervention was necessary to show Syria that the world is serious about stopping violence and oppression. On the other hand, others argued that military intervention would only encourage the Syrian regime to respond with more violence.
I was quite surprised to find more than 60% of those who participated thought that military intervention was not the best solution. America is known for using its military might to fight repressive governments, so naturally, I thought that most Americans would support the idea of intervening in a country that constantly murders and oppressed its civilians.
I clearly made the mistake of assuming that democratic governments, like the U.S., are generally a good representation of what the population thinks. The US government has power that it enjoys to display to the world, but not all Americans support that. Especially after seeing the results unfold in Iraq and Afghanistan, Americans, for the most part, seem to have changed their way of thinking. Military intervention does not always prove to be effective. In Syria in particular, where civilians are responding to the regime with further violence, using realpolitik and force simply will not change the mindset of both the Syrian regime and Syrian people.
Americans are showing that they understand this, too. They realize the complications that hasty military intervention can bring. Lastly, I now realize that not every American believes in using realist powers in world politics
do you support intervention in Syria? do you think it would work? did you support NATO in Libya?
Oren,
Based on what I’ve been following in the news and some brief contexts given in articles, I don’t think military intervention is the most effective way to deal with Syria. Violence is only increasing, as both sides – the regime and the civilians – continue to retaliate against each other with more brutality. I don’t think that adding another military factor into that scene would alleviate the problems in Syria. The issue of human rights abuse and innocent killings stem from the ubiquitous violence in the country, and I don’t think either side is willing to settle with external military threats. The most important thing, I think, is to change the mindset of the Syrians who only seek force and violent ways to respond to political issues. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?
another reason why many Americans do not support war in Syria yet is because America has not directed its propaganda machine against Syria yet. Just ask the same question and insert Iran instead of Syria.
You might get a different answer. lol.
Haha, you make a good point. Imagine if Syria posed a national security threat to America – heck, even all the Democrats would suddenly turn to supporting war in Syria. I guess this is all based on context that Americans wouldn’t necessarily support a war. Let’s just hope that America does give some attention to Syria – not the wrong kind, but the kind that aims at helping better the situation over there.