I write this open letter to you in order to ask one thing of you before taking any action on Syria. I do hope you have a moment to discuss this, it's rather important. We seem to have found ourselves in a bit of a pickle wouldn't you say? I bet you would give your right nut to have a time machine to go back, and not draw that line in the sand eh? Talk about painting yourself into a corner. Total bummer. Let's talk...
I don't think you would get many arguments against the notion that Bashar Al-Assad is a bad dude. Personally, I think he's a world class asshole that needs an ass whipping, a public stoning isn't off the table either as far as I'm concerned, but that's not what I'm here to discuss. I'd like to urge you to take a moment, pick up the Batphone, and give a call to Bashar Al-Assad. Talk to him not as head of state to head of state, but as one man to another, as one neighbor might talk to another.
Surely, a brief call could be made prior to sending death from above raining down on Syria putting innocents in danger, and possibly triggering WWIII. I mean really what's the harm in trying? I think that's a far better option than sending Kerry to the press to beat the drums of war, in such an impassioned, and forceful manner, it seemed as if war had already begun. Granted you came out with a speech of your own that was of a much milder tone, stating that nothing has been decided as of yet. Have you two even discussed this matter before appearing in front of the press? It doesn't seem like you two are reading from the same book. What's up with that? Make the phone call.
A phone call to Assad, talking man to man could save a lot of lives. Ask him what the fuck is up over there. Ask him how we can help negotiate some kind of peace or at the very least a truce so that cooler heads can prevail. A truce that would let inspectors full access, with their safety guaranteed, in order to make a complete, and definitive investigation as to what went down on August 21, 2013, with the US guaranteeing that no action would be taken until such investigation is concluded, and the results shared. Hell, ask him how he feels right now. Ask him any fucking thing just engage with the man before bringing untold pain upon an untold number of people. Make the phone call.
You are in a pretty unique position right now. You are not involved in the "fog of war", you have the advantage of 20/20 vision at the moment, don't squander that advantage just to save face regarding a careless, poorly thought out threat. The US populace is fairly disengaged from the violence in Syria other than what we see in the media. Horrifying? Absoultely. Does it have people marching in the streets demanding justice for the innocent Syrians? Nope. Americans are horrified, but they aren't in any danger from Syria. The Syrian Civil War needs to be resolved by Syrians, not Americans. The international community has the forces, the means, and the authority to go into Syria. America does not. Make the call.
Worse case scenario, Iran, China, Russia, N. Korea, will all join Syria if war were to be the result of a "surgical" strike by US forces. That's a lot of bodies, a lot of weapons, and a lot of orphans on the horizon. The UK, France, Germany, and some other nations may or may not join us in the fight. I would expect them to come in on our side, but I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of them told us to pound sand, you wanted to do a strike on your own, you can fight the war on your own. It doesn't matter who joins, and who sits it out, the damage will be beyond anything the planet has ever seen. Make the call.
Give the man a call. Set up a meet. Have a beer, smoke a joint, tell him he's pretty, whatever it takes. Let's find out what's going on before we start the begining of the end over nothing but ego. A pissing contest is no reason to go to war. If I remember correctly we borrowed EXTENSIVELY from China in order to FUND the last 13 years of war. I could be wrong, but I don't think they would be willing to float us a loan so we can take them on in war. We have thousands of homeless Americans, homeless veterans, families, and yes even homeless drunks, and drug addicts that could greatly benefit from the cash spent on those bombs, troops, and machines of war. Make the damn call, please.
Thanks,
The Green Nugget