A Letter to IL Representatives regarding Syria

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The following is a letter written by Ann Zahniser, a member of the Greenville community, to the Illinois representatives regarding Syria. What follows is being published as it was originally written, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Greenville College or the Papyrus. 

September 3, 2013

Dear Senator Durbin, Senator Kirk, and Representative Shimkus,

With the media and some elected representatives in Congress beating the war drums—yet again—I am writing to voice my OPPOSITION to military intervention in Syria.  Several important considerations have brought me to this conclusion.

We have yet to recover from our two previous wars in the Middle East.

The best way to assure that we will be attacked on U.S. soil is to attack Muslim countries.

An attack on Syria would be a GREAT recruiting tool for Al-Qa’ida worldwide.

Considering the fact that the U.S. is responsible for thousands upon thousands of civilian deaths in the Middle East in recent years, it seems hypocritical to criticize killing by our enemies—in spite of its obvious repugnance.

However, the most important reason not to attack Syria is historical.

Heretofore, our military forays in the Middle East have been abysmal failures:

The First Gulf War created Osama bin-Laden.

The Afghan and Iraq Wars speak for themselves: a combined 17 years of war so far, thousands upon thousands killed, billions upon billions of dollars wasted, 300,000 returning veterans with mental health problems.  And all for what?

And now who will join us?  According to today’s news not the UN, nor NATO, nor the Arab League, nor Russian, nor Britain.

The upshot is that we continue to believe that we can be the world’s policeman, to eliminate evil (as President Bush said he was going to do), and to make the world safe for democracy.

Please, please, LOOK AT THE HISTORY of our interventions in the Middle East before sending our country off into another colossal blunder.

Sincerely,

Ann H. Zahniser

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