Jason Pickell is a sophomore political science major and writes ‘Mind of a Democrat’ for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper or other members of the University Democrats organization. Write to Jason at jrpickell@bsu.edu.
In 1925, the international community met in Geneva and agreed that no country shall ever partake in the use of chemical warfare. The reason the world felt so strongly about banning chemical weapons is due to their utter brutality.
Chemical weapons kill men, women, children and soldiers indiscriminately. The type of chemical weapon used in Syria was sarin nerve gas, which causes paralysis within seconds, leading to seizures and finally death.
It is blatant as to why such weapons are illegal and why the use of such weapons is a punishable offense. We know now that Syria has used chemical weapons, as it was recently confirmed by a United Nations report.
Syria’s use of sarin has caused the suffering and death of more than 1,400 of their own citizens. Humanity is faced with a dilemma that we sought to prevent, and now — with the international community unwilling to act — it is again left up to the United States to take charge and to safeguard the interests of the Syrian people and the world as a whole.
Don’t get me wrong. I tend to be hesitant of supporting military action for fear of being drawn into another long quagmire such as Afghanistan and Iraq. However, as a Democrat, I am an idealist who believes that every citizen of the world has a right to create their own government and that their government should protect the rights of its citizens. The highest among such are basic human rights.
President Barack Obama has stated that he will not put any U.S. soldiers on the ground in Syria. I applaud his shared reluctance of a large scale war, and I will hold him to his word that there will be no further escalation. I support the use of limited airstrikes targeted at Syrian military bases, but nothing more.
If the U.S. does nothing, the Assad regime, as well as other totalitarian regimes, will view such inaction by the nation and the international community as being weak on principles. Thus, it will set a precedent that chemical weapons can be used without serious punishment.
The recent diplomatic breakthroughs have allowed a possible solution to the situation in Syria, yet I view this as letting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad off the hook. Without taking action against the regime, the situation in Syria has the possibility of degrading intensely, so more extremes may have to be taken.
We cannot afford, as a nation of such strong guiding principles, to allow Syria to brutally partake in the mass murder of its own citizens.
If no one else will do anything, we must.
