BY ED FELIEN
MoveOn.org writes: “Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has introduced a bipartisan bill to block additional U.S. forces from being sent into Syria.
“H.R. 1473 prohibits the Department of Defense from funding any attempt by the administration to expand our presence in Syria by putting U.S. combat boots on the ground. Under the bill, the Pentagon would be prohibited from using funds to send troops to Syria for ground combat operations, award a contract to a private security firm for ground activity or otherwise establish or maintain a presence of U.S. troops or a private security contractor in Syria. The bill would allow for exceptions to ‘protect, rescue or remove’ U.S. personnel.
“ ‘I strongly object to the White House’s decision to unilaterally place U.S. boots on the ground in Syria,’ Rep. Lee said. ‘The Constitution is clear: Congress must debate, vote and authorize the use of military force in matters of war and peace.’ ”
The U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11, says only Congress shall have the power to “To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.” Rick Nolan is the only congressional representative from Minnesota to co-sponsor this legislation with Barbara Lee.
Why?
This bill is quite clear. To support the bill means you are opposed to committing ground troops to Syria to begin an armed invasion of that country. If you do not sponsor it or support it, then you are in favor of committing U.S. armed forces to an invasion and occupation of Syria.
There is no compromise on this. You are either against this new escalation of war, or you are for it.
Why hasn’t Keith Ellison signed on? Why hasn’t Betsy McCollum? Why hasn’t Amy Kobuchar introduced a similar resolution in the Senate? Why hasn’t Al Franken?
Why do they want more war?
Who are ISIS?
BY ED FELIEN
What is the Islamic State?
ISIS is mostly Sunni Arabs against the world. Their last holdouts are the northern city of Raqqa (220,488 population) in Syria and the northern city of Mosul (664,241 population) in Iraq. In Syria a small army of Sunni Arabs are fighting the Shia Syrian Army, the Shia Iranian Army, the Kurds, the Russians and, now, ground troops from the U.S. In Iraq the Shia Army has surrounded Mosul and captured the railroad station.
In Syria ISIS began as peaceful protests by farmers whose subsistence farms had been turned into desert by global warming. They were asking the government for support and relief. There is some evidence that the CIA exploited and expanded those protests. The Shia Syrian government of Bashar Assad overreacted, violently suppressed the protests, and that, in turn, created the violent reaction of ISIS.
In Iraq the U.S. military gave arms to the Sunni Arabs who were part of Saddam Hussein’s Revolutionary Guard to protect their neighborhoods. Eventually, the Sunnis felt they were being oppressed by the U.S.-sponsored Shia national government, and that led to the forming of the separatist Sunni Islamic state in northern Iraq.
Trump has said he will “utterly destroy ISIS.” But he can’t do that unless he kills every Sunni Arab in Syria and Iraq. The Shia troops may win militarily and they may occupy Raqqa and Mosul, but, ultimately, they will have to withdraw and let the Sunni Arabs control their own communities.
The most sensible and humane course of action for the U.S. would be to get out and stay out. Further involvement is a prescription for disaster.
