Recently the US president, Donald Trump, ordered air strikes on Syria. From what I know this was in response to supposed chemical attacks by the Syrian Government and President Assad. Chemical attacks are against international law, but was the US justified to step in?
I’ve heard from many people that “the US has done worse, who are we to step in?” Using examples such as Guantanamo Bay to probe the US guilty of equal sins. This is a valid argument, why should we manage other nations when we have done wrongs ourselves? As Jesus said, “Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.” But, is this a good enough reason for us to do nothing? No. We are not a perfect nation, none are. We have a incredible amount of power in this world, as one of the strongest super powers in the world. International law can only be enforced by nations such as the US. But, there is another side I’ve been hearing.
Can we trust the media? We can’t be sure what is really happening. There is a constant flow of investigations and reports across the media, debunking each other at a rate so fast we can’t be sure what to believe. And if we don’t know the whole story, how can we give judgment? We can’t. We simply must trust that our government is not relying on CNN or FOX news for their updates. We should trust that their information is reliable and true.
Then, you have the wild card. Our president. No one can deny that he is a unpredictable man. Why he does what he does, no one really knows. His actions are the most questionable of all factors, for everyone, because there is very little rhyme or reason to what he does. Whether it is the right thing or wrong, we don’t know how or why he came to that conclusion.
In the end, the US air strikes in Syria are a deadly symbol that we are still here, that America is watching. Whether we are the good or the bad, I don’t know. Those of us that are not just regular citizens, but under age students, we can only pray and keep looking for information that is credible and unbiased.
Written by Lenny O’Mahony.
April 16, 2018.