America went into Iraq and blew it up, (and lost over 4,000 of our sons in the bargain.) We did not go into Libya - we flew over, and helped blow it up. (We lost none of our sons.) We did not go into Syria, nor did we fly over; it blew itself up. (Again, America lost none of its sons.) Now they seek to blame President Obama for Syria being blown up because America did not go in to save it from being blown up, when going in would have meant helping to blow it up while losing many of our precious sons, besides.
Then, they say, "Obama should have armed the moderate rebels in Syria." Arm the moderates. First, doesn't "moderates" sound soft, especially when cast against the likes of those gangs fighting in Syria? Imagine the "moderates" - walking around with their fancy USA weaponry, and ISIS walking up to them and saying, "Give us those guns!" Then, imagine the "moderates" handing over those weapons immediately, and asking, "You won't hurt us, will you?" Next, the detractors would be accusing Obama of arming ISIS.
Obama's presidency has been a deliberate and consistent attempt to lower the world's temperature - literally, with his global warming initiatives, and figuratively, with his Iran nuclear deal, the opening to Cuba, and the draw-down of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Precious few of America's son have died on foreign soil on Obama's watch. That is by design. If no one else appreciates that, the mothers and fathers of American soldiers certainly do.
Still, there is Aleppo, and the Syrian diaspora. America must not be insensitive to their sufferings; neither should it saddle itself with the blame.
People everywhere have a right to protest; even to rebel. They do not have a right to have their own way. that has to be earned. Sometimes, to get it, one has to fight for it.
With the right to protest comes a responsibility to accept the consequences. The Syrian people protested against their leader, Bashar Assad. The protests became a rebellion. When the fighting started - the consequences - the Syrians skedaddled.
The American colonists, after living over 150 years under British rule, protested, and rebelled against King George. When the fighting started, the colonists stuck to their guns. Homes burned. Cities fell. Men, women, and children died.
The colonists fought on. There was never a guarantee that they would win. Ask the soldiers at Valley Forge. They were a wretched lot. Yet, they weathered their terrible losses and , after years of more fighting, they won their freedom.
President Obama realizes that no nation is so great that it can assume the responsibility of shaping the destinies of other nations. That responsibility rests with that nation's people. They, alone, must decide what they want, and whether it is worth fighting, and dying for. They do not need America for that. They need vision, courage, and commitment to their ideal.
The Syrians had a vision. They lacked the courage and the conviction to see it through. They claim to have wanted freedom from Assad. They expected someone else to deliver it.
