KerryHagelDempsey Convince the Gullibles

Dear Mr. President,
The Gullibles are falling in line. After private briefings and yesterday’s KerryHagelDempsey sideshow they’re convinced. But Gullibles are easily convinced. I listened to some of the hearing. Assurances that the intel is solid, “proof beyond a shadow of a doubt,” to do nothing is morally indefensible and will endanger NATIONAL SECURITY! So the Gullibles will go along to get along and approve an Authorization to Use Military Force in Syria just as they did in Afghanistan and Iraq. As I listened, I kept thinking this was a slightly altered rerun of a show that played in 2003, that one better done on the stage of the UN with Colin Powell presenting evidence that Saddam had WMDs and if we didn’t act now he’d use them on us. Powell showed us satellite imagery, documents, diagrams, photos, even played audio, conversations proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Iraq had a robust nuclear program and stockpiles of WMDs. Powell had facts and he showed them. They were wrong, of course; there were no WMDs but the hawks got their war and here we are again, 10 years later, the same shell game only shabbier, less convincing and without proof, just speculation, assumptions and circumstantial evidence. Trust Me is the heart of the argument but there’s all those nagging contradictions. Like Kerry’s claim that the rebels are becoming more moderate when the opposite is true. Or that MSF verified that the Syrian government used Sarin in the attack while the group says they have no first-hand evidence. Or that opposition forces haven’t used chemical weapons when the UN has concluded they have. Or the numbers killed in the attack: the U.S. claims 1,429; Britain says “at least 350”; the French “at least” 281” and the rebels “up to 1,300.” Maybe Assad’s forces did everything you accuse them of but we’ve been lied to for so long by our government that trust no longer exists and truth is scarce as hens’ teeth. And what about the UN prohibition of military force without Security Council authorization except in self-defense? It takes precedence over all other international laws, even the prohibition against the use of chemical weapons. If you ignore the UN’s most fundamental rule, you undermine the UN and open the way for others to do the same. And for what? There is no win in this for anyone, least of all the Syrian people. The Law of Unintended Consequences is always the rule in war, so get those boots ready to put on the ground, Mr. President. Here we go again.