It's a shame that fifty shades of grey has become synonymous with hot, steamy sex, because it's the perfect phrase to describe the dilemma over what to do about the current Syrian crisis. Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad deserves a place in Hell for authorizing the use of chemical weapons on his own citizens, hundreds of them innocent children, but tens of thousands of innocent women and children have suffered just as agonizing deaths, via rape, mayhem and dismemberment, in various African countries over the past two decades and scarcely little has been done by this country to stem those atrocities. Are the lives of African children worth less than Syrian children? We invaded Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from using weapons of mass destruction; now we hesitate to take action against a brutal dictator who actually used that weapon. The stench of our hypocrisy wafts in the wind. It's no wonder that a majority of countries across the globe want no part of our efforts to make al-Assad pay for his depravity. After the debacles resulting from our invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, they recognize that America has lost its moral authority, and it's hard for me to see how bombing Syria will help us get it back.
That said, doing nothing against al-Assad would be just like doing nothing against Hitler, which is exactly what we did at the beginning of WWII, despite the atrocities Hitler was committing against European Jews. We should feel equally ashamed now if we fail to act as we should have felt back then.
In the movie Ben-Hur, Esther chides Judah by remarking that violence begets violence, just as dog begets dog. I know in my heart she's right, but figuring out a proper response over Syria is still fifty shades of grey.
