TODAY’S COMMENTARY DENNIS ROSS – WASHINGTON POST
10.9.2013 – The opponents of congressional authorization for military strikes against Syria are focused on one set of concerns: the belief that the costs of action are simply too high and uncertain. Syria for them is a civil war, with few apparent good guys and far too many bad guys. The use of chemical weapons is, in their eyes, terrible, but ultimately it is not our problem — unless, of course, we make it our problem by reacting militarily. If we do, they see a slippery slope in which the initial use of force will inevitably suck us into a conflict that we cannot win. Coming on the heels of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which cost us so much in blood and treasure, the U.S. public, as polls show, is both weary and wary of any further involvement in Middle East conflicts. – The wariness is understandable, but it does not make the cost of inaction any lower…
Dennis Ross, The Washington Institute’s counselor, served as a senior advisor to President Obama from 2009 to 2011.