Syria: Four reasons why intervention is not in America’s interests

Waiting Out the War in Syria 

By Daniel Pipes

.... As Syria’s civil war intensifies, Western states are increasingly helping the rebels overthrow Assad and his henchmen. In doing so, the West hopes to save lives and facilitate a transition to democracy. Many Western voicesare calling for more than the non-lethal aid now being offered. They want to arm the rebels, set up safe zones, and even join the war against the government.

Those who call for helping the rebels, however, neglect a fundamental question: Does intervention in Syria against Assad promote our own interests? ..........

• First, the rebels are Islamist and intent on building an ideological government and one even more hostile to the West than Assad’s. ................
• Second, the argument that Western intervention would reduce the Islamist thrust of the rebellion by replacing materiel pouring in from Sunni countries is risible. ..............
• Third, hastening the Assad regime’s collapse will not save lives. .................
• Fourth, the continuing Syrian conflict offers benefits to the West. Several Sunni governments have noted the Obama administration’s reluctance to act and have taken responsibility for wresting Syria from the Iranian orbit. .........

Nothing in the constitutions of Western states requires them to get involved in every foreign conflict; sitting this one out will prove to be a smart move.

In addition to the moral benefit of not being accountable for horrors yet to come, staying away will eventually permit the West to help its only true friends in Syria, the country’s liberals.

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