By Robert Sulzer

September 14, 2013

While there are many injustices throughout the world, Syria is today the country by far with the greatest human suffering. The rate of killing is accelerating. In 2011, there were fewer than 5,000 deaths. As of July 2012, there were around 10,000 deaths—and since then the number has risen tenfold. A year ago, by United Nations calculations, there were 230,000 Syrian refugees and now there are two million.

It is critical that the United States prepare to act against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad`s recent use of poison gas against his own people.  This one action killed more than 1400 people including more than 400 children.

Syria`s government has amassed one of the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, with help not only from Russia and Iran, but also with help from Western European suppliers and from a handful of American companies—according to declassified intelligence records and American diplomatic cables. All the way back to the 1980`s, a large group of nations banded together to block the sale of goods intended to increase Syria`s stockpile of chemical weapons. Syria`s ruling Assad family exploited large loopholes in international agreements and exploited the opportunity presented by the world`s greater emphasis on the spread of nuclear weapons.

The Russian proposal for Syria to cede all her chemical weapons to the international community should be seriously considered—but our threat for a military strike should still be there because it is questionable how honorable Putin will be in following through on these agreements.  In this situation, inaction is very tempting—but very dangerous. Therefore, if this effort to take international control of Assad’s chemical weapons is blocked or even delayed by Syria then I strongly support a limited cruise missile strike against Syrian military targets and/or chemical plants. A strike at that point would affirm our resolve and help deter Syria`s army from using chemical weapons again.  Also, it is well established that North Korea has a huge stockpile of chemical weapons and limited military action against Syria`s regime could send a warning to North Korea`s government not to use their chemical weapons or export them to other rogue nations.

The American people are war weary, but we must understand that a limited strike aimed at strategic targets in Syria will not lead to a “boots on the ground” involvement, like we experienced these many years in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are not attempting regime change, but instead we must take a stand against the use of chemical weapons. Inaction is more dangerous to long term American security than a well-planned and focused strike against Syrian military targets.