America's Deep Shame -- Aleppo

Americans seem to be always presented with false choices.  In the case of Iraq, people ask; should we really have gotten rid of Saddam Hussein.  Maybe we should have never invaded Iraq.  But, in fact, invading Iraq was not the problem.  The problem was the dismantling of the Baath Party.  Sure, the Baath Party was the instrument by which Hussein ruled Iraq.  So what?  Having gotten rid of Hussein, we could have installed one of his generals.

The Baath Party was what held Iraq together.  It was the entity that organized garbage collectors, teachers, policemen, utility workers, healthcare workers the military, tax collectors.  By eliminating the Baath Party, America totally destroyed Iraqi society.

Sure, Hussein's replacement would hardly have been someone infused with a democratic spirit.  However, he would have learned a valuable lesson; namely, that if you mess with the U.S., you'll meet the same fate as Hussein.  Also, we should have divided Iraq into thirds, a Kurdish third in the north, a Sunni third, below that, and a Shiite third at the bottom.  Didn't Joe Biden once make  such a suggestion?  Why didn't we learn anything from Yugoslavia?

But, it's the horror of Aleppo that will haunt America for generations.  Obama, America's Hamlet, drew a red line for Assad.  Cross this line, he said, and we will bomb you.  The line was drawn at using gas warfare.  Assad continued to use gas.  Obama did nothing.  What could he have done?  Bomb Assad?  Maybe, but he could have done something simpler; namely, create a no-fly zone over the area.

Actually, barrel bombs should have been included in the strategies to be denied to Assad.  These bombs did more harm to civilians than they did to combatants.  But, that's a fine point.  A no-fly zone would have taken care of both problems.

We didn't do it.  Our red line meant absolutely nothing.  We relied on a Russian promise that if we didn't bomb Assad, they'd get him to stop using gas.  It was an imperfect promise and on occasion Assad still used gas.

At that time, the Russians hadn't yet entered this theater.  Our creating a no-fly zone would not have been a challenge to the Russians.  However, once we agreed to the stupid deal we had made with them, the game was over.  To now create a no-fly zone -- now as the Russians were flying over Syria with their bombers, a no-fly zone would have indeed been a challenge to the Russians.

Result:  The Russians, Hezbollah, Assad's troops, and a few Iranians all joined forces to flatten Aleppo.  There was absolutely no regard as to the welfare of civilians.  Large number of noncombatants, women children and the wounded were murdered as they tried to escape the burning city.  Were we unaware of Assad's ruthlessness?  Did we not understand that Hezbollah hated Aleppo's Sunnis and were delighted to join in their massacre, something that also brought great pleasure to the Iranians?  Didn't we understand the game that the Russians were playing?

A city and it's inhabitants wiped out -- and all because of America's stupidity.