Today was the first day of the special session for Virginia’s General Assembly. The day was full of procedural matters to get things started. Nothing noteworthy really took place with the exception of State Senator Dick Black’s heartfelt speech of caution on America getting further involved in the war in Syria.
Black rose on a point of personal privilege after procedural business was conducted. He spoke for about fifteen minutes on why America does not need to increase actions in Syria. He mentioned his personal experiences of seeing the tragedies of war and said that the ones who want to rush to war are often the ones who never served in one. He said in this specific case, it will be very difficult to avoid large civilian casualties. Black, a Vietnam War Veteran, knows firsthand how terrible things can get. A cooling of tensions, not an escalation, is what is needed.
A recent alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria has drawn a lot of attention to that war once again. President Obama spectacularly mishandled this conflict when he was in office. He gave a primetime address that addressed nothing. He gave a “redline” warning and then backed off. He sent mixed messages and admitted to not having a plan when he said, “We don’t have a strategy yet.” Obama did a horrible job with Syria.
Now it is President Trump’s opportunity to learn from his predecessor’s mistakes. Whether we do or don’t; we need to have a clear explanation as to why for whichever choice is made. If the decision is to go in, then the Congress must vote for the authorization. The president is the commander-in-chief but the Constitution gives such a decision to the Congress. Whatever happens the law needs to be followed and the American people need to be given a great deal of information.
We hope America stays away from Syria right now. There is no need for us to get into a conflict that could become a war with Russia that then could escalate into World War III. Let’s hope the president hears Senator Dick Black’s words of caution.
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