Assad Apparently Surviving Month of May

I had predicted that President Bashir Assad would not survive through May. Unlike when I hit a prediction, when I miss a prediction it warrants an article and explanation of what I was thinking. So, here go my excuses for my failure. I had honestly thought that at least one of the countries who had been wringing their hands and complaining about the slaughter of innocent, unarmed, peaceful protestors and Syrian citizens by Syrian troops under orders from President Assad would have actually acted upon their indignance and horror over the carnage. Apparently, everybody who has decried the senseless murder of Syrian civilians and who had taken the side of the Syrian revolution in the developing civil War have sat on their hands waiting for others to actually take action and aid the rebels. The main culprits have been Turkey and Saudi Arabia, both of which have issued some very damning condemnations of Bashir Assad. This begs the question of what it will take to stir other Arab and Muslim nations to action and what has been their reason for apparently sitting out this conflict thus far.

The apparent and equally despicable reason for the inaction appears to be that everybody is waiting for the United States to come to the rescue like the cavalry in old western movies. Obviously, this is not about to happen as the United States is in the process of pulling their forces out of the Middle East and the American people have about had enough of wars and fighting thankless actions abroad. Making things even worse is the fact of the amount of weapon systems and hardware which the United States has either sold or supplied too many of these Middle East countries who refuse to risk soldiers, treasure or equipment to aid the Syrian rebels. It makes one wonder why the United States even bothers to equip these presumed allies if they are never going to use the supplied instruments and instead will sit and demand that the United States come to their rescue. This reminds me of a statement made by Saudi Arabian King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz commenting on the Saudi Royals preferred attitude towards fighting wars, in particular in reference to the gulf War to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, stating in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1993, <B><I>“I summon my blue-eyed slaves anytime it pleases me. I command the Americans to send me their bravest soldiers to die for me. Anytime I clap my hands a stupid genie called the American ambassador appears to do my bidding. When the Americans die in my service their bodies are frozen in metal boxes by the US Embassy and American airplanes carry them away, as if they never existed. Truly, America is my favorite slave.”</I></B>

Another very disturbing fact about the inaction in so many various conflicts in the Middle East is how the majority of the countries depend near completely on the United States to repair or come to the rescue whenever there is any difficulty. These same countries who constantly complain that the United States is always interfering with their governing while depending on American support to remain in power. The love hate situation that exists would seem to be sufficient reason for the United States to simply wash their hands of anything concerning these demanding, whining, ill-mannered, overly-dependent, ungrateful self-absorbed rulers in the Middle East and simply let the chips fall where they may. American soldiers’ lives and bodies are too precious to spend them protecting such ingrates. If the United States finds it necessary and in their interest to take military action to right a wrong, protect innocents, or address a threat to the United States or her allies, then after the initial fighting is resolved and the threat vanquished, the troops will be brought home. Then those we leave in charge should be informed that we will not be holding their hands, protecting their rears, or concerning ourselves with any nation building. They should also be made to understand that should things return to a situation of a perceived problem, then American troops will return to break things and set them to an initial safe situation as many times as they choose to take a problematic path. Since they are adverse to the presence of Western troops or advisors, we should keep such interaction to a minimum and simply address the bare minimum of any situation. That means that perhaps the Turkish and Saudi governments should actually utilize some of that military equipment and training which has been provided and take care of the Syrian situation without Western assistance. Try it, you might just find there is pride and satisfaction when you face your problems and adversities and actually solve the difficulties on your own instead of having to ask and beg others to come and rescue you.

Beyond the Cusp