Today President Obama was interviewed by the PBS News Hour.
And if, in fact, we can take limited, tailored approaches, not getting drawn into a long conflict, not a repetition of, you know, Iraq, which I know a lot of people are worried about – but if we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow saying, stop doing this, that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term, and may have a positive impact on our national security over the long term and may have a positive impact in the sense that chemical weapons are not used again on innocent civilians.
emphasis mine
I certainly hope this administration may have cracked the code of how to "send a shot across the bow" such that "chemical weapons are not used again on innocent civilians", but color me skeptical.
How about we find some other long shot solutions which "can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term, and may have a positive impact on our national security over the long term and may have a positive impact" that don't involve shooting?
I'd like to send a message to our President and our Congress, we're not the world's policeman and if we've learned anything in the past 10 years, I hope we've learned that our shooting usually makes things worse for people, not better.
Stand down from shooting. Shooting is not a tailored approach, and often shooting draws one into a conflict. Stand down shooting. Step up to diplomacy.
UPDATED 17:44 Wed Aug 28 - Architect of Syria War Plan Doubts Surgical Strikes Will Work