This is what happens…

Rarely am I compelled to shout curse words in public places. Today was an exception, and I had to struggle to keep an uncontrolled, despairing “oh fuck” erupting while running on a treadmill at the local gym. What nearly prompted an outburst – and, were I not mid-run, a tirade on totalitarian government? This report had popped up silently on a television screen in front of me.

The civil war in Syria has been simmering away on the back burner for most of the last few months. Since the intrigue surrounding the initial outbreak of the fighting, Americans have had their attention divided between a presidential election, terrorist attacks on American consulates, Iran’s nuclear program, and a potential war between Israel and Palestine. All the while, humanitarian agencies have made efforts to remind the global community of the continued destruction occurring in Syria, where government soldiers seem to kill indiscriminately in response to rebel soldiers who seem to kill indiscriminately.

But then a dessert pastry company announced it was shutting down, the CIA chief had sex with a person and a cop gave a homeless man some new shoes. “Brutal Government Continues to Kill its Own People.” That headline never stood a chance against “Inbred English Family Announces Next Child.”

Admittedly, the media sucks. It’s stupid. It serves the interests of the masses, and the interests of the masses are generally stupid. Would I rather read a detailed analysis of the Syrian conflict or a blow-by-blow account of Lindsay Lohan’s weekend bender? Well, I’d rather not say how I spent my Sunday morning...

The Syrian government has made things serious. They’ve made the whole situation a whole heck of a lot serious. Chemical weapons are a big no-no. UN treaties, Geneva conventions and general moral principles all agree that, although killing people in battle is totally cool, killing them slowly, painfully and en masse is not allowed. Even Hitler thought using chemical weapons in against Allied soldiers was as big a faux pas a commander could make.

And now Bashar al-Assad is preparing to deploy them in a war against his own people..

Unless this brutal dictator has a change of heart, or unless there is some intervention made by the international community, some bad shit is about to go down in the Middle East. So allow me to practice some demagoguery for a bit.

That the Syrian government had stores of potential chemical weapons ready to mobilize against its population was a pretty well-known fact. al-Assad even warned in July, says the Wired article linked above, that he would use these weapons to deter any international involvement in his war. So what happened? Did we just assume that, out of the goodness of his heart, a brutal, selfish dictator would simply choose not to use these weapons after all? “Don’t worry guys, he clearly said if someone intervenes. As long as we stay out of it, we’ll be fine.” Was that the thought process? That’s nuts.

Months ago, almost a year ago, someone could have stepped in to stop this. Planes and missiles were sent to blow up Gaddafi. The statements made in condemnation of Mubarak were at least strong, threatening and uncompromising, especially in comparison to the confusing and contradictory slew of statements made about Syria.

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, or so they say. The world is well past any preventative measures regarding the Syrian civil war. That boil has been left to fester for far too long. Maybe a quick lancing will do the trick. Unfortunately it may just continue to rot until it consumes itself.

I think we’ve fucked this one up.