Just in case all the sarcasm at work isn’t obvious:
“An attack on Syria, no matter how well-intentioned, is bound to result in a staggering amount of collateral damage, and a tremendous number of civilian casualties, much like the fight between Kal-El and General Zod in the recent Man of Steel film; A Good Cartoon.”
In approaching the looming prospect of a U.S. attack on Syria, quite possibly with an even smaller coalition of international support than we had for Operation Iraqi “Freedom,” I wanted to draw a cartoon commenting on some of the wider, more general notions about the use of military force in the aftermath of that unmitigated disaster, instead of whether or not I, personally feel it should be used, this time around.
As another comic book famously said, I think that “with great power comes great responsibility,” and so isolationism and indifference to international suffering that could be curtailed by military intervention is just as wrong as unrestricted foreign adventures of Imperialism. One could argue that no one should have such great power, least of all anyone who’s used it as irresponsibly as we have, and I’d probably agree, but since we do have it at the moment, that’s unfortunately a question for another time.
Regardless, I do feel like military intervention ought to be reserved as a last resort, especially when threats to national security aren’t so immediate, and it seems to me like the Obama Administration has at least tried to do this, with regard to Syria (though certainly not as a rule). Indeed, he has been widely criticized for not stepping in for over a year, and while that criticism has probably come most often from senile warmongers, this fact, combined with his deferral of the matter to Congress, makes it impossible to argue that he’s jumping into a conflict eagerly.
By comparison, Operation Iraqi Freedom was a foregone conclusion to W. from the very moment he entered office. Counter-terrorism, and direct, immediate threats were meanwhile considered a much lower priority. 9/11 merely provided a convenient (though illogical) excuse for moving ahead with these long-gestating plans–ironically, the time, effort, and attention wasted on developing them may have been a key factor in allowing 9/11 to happen in the first place!
What this situation has helped me to realize is how the catastrophic military blunders of the Bush Administration have effectively tied the hands of Presidents following him. The good news, there, is that it should make it more difficult for them to engage in giant money-laundering operations, and personal vendettas, thinly-disguised as pointless wars. The bad news is that it may also cause them to be overly-cautious in legitimate matters of national defense and humanitarian intervention in the future, resulting in losses of life that are just as unnecessary, no less-preventable, and more massive than any that would be caused by swift, decisive military action.
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