TO THE EDITOR:
President Trump has signaled that he may launch a unilateral attack on Syria, overthrowing yet another secular Middle East government. Like in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, a regime-change war will undoubtedly be endless and plunge Syria further into chaos, allowing al-Nusra, ISIS and other Islamist groups to thrive in the ensuing vacuum. “Limited” intervention almost always expands, and in Syria, it could lead to direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.
The same figures who lied about Saddam’s WMDs, and pushed to arm Syrian “rebel groups” that turned out to be jihadists, now demand another counterproductive war to overthrow Assad. While his government is heinous, it is naive to think that risking U.S. military lives can solve that country’s woes.
In 2013, mass grassroots opposition dissuaded Obama from escalating involvement in Syria. College students have unique platforms to protest and pursue change. Our generation grew up in the backdrop of endless war, and it is incumbent upon us to restore sanity to American foreign policy.
Now is the time to speak out before the damage is done. If the campus left really cares about racial justice and anti-imperialism, they will push back against Washington bombing yet another country in the global South. If libertarians and conservatives truly value life, the Constitution and small government, they will oppose another expensive war of choice with zero debate and no approval from Congress.
Zach Rachuba
Class of ‘16
