“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.” –Ernest Benn

I write this as I watch many of our elected officials rush pell-mell down a road with no exit until it arrives at a particularly nasty, malevolent piece of sorry real estate known as Syria.

The latest mantra in this evolving disaster is the idea of “national Interest”. There is no pressing national interest involved here; just the misplaced pride and shoddy statesmanship on the part of a president who said the wrong thing at the wrong time. In Egypt, in Libya, in Lebanon and in other Middle Eastern countries we have already made one bad decision after another; draining us of precious American blood, treasure and prestige.

This entire mess is a charade of misplaced priorities and concerns. I can name a dozen locales globally where outright genocide has been the order of the day, and where innocent people have been murdered in masse. Where is the international indignation to these incidents, and the attendant saber rattling by those who remain farthest from the actual costs for rash actions and stupid statements?

In war, things get broken and people die. And a civil war is the worst of all, because there is absolutely nothing “civil” to be found in the entire mind-bogglingly brutal affair. Whether these civilians are killed by a bomb or a bullet or a poison gas is immaterial; they will remain just as dead. So if we are contemplating action due to some feckless idea about some imaginary red line being crossed, please keep in mind that the Syrians have had chemical weapons for the past thirty years, the poison gas involved (Sarin) has been around for over seventy, and the use of poison gas dates back to World War One.

No good can come out of this; only more grief for ourselves and our only reliable ally in that unhappy region of the world. There are no “good guys” left in Syria, just enemies of various degrees to America and our American way of life. If the Russians and the Red Chinese want to be involved in Syria, let them involve themselves up to their collective eyeballs. Let them own it while we undertake more sensible, worthwhile challenges such as securing our own borders, fixing our looming health care debacle, managing our national debt, and making our nation energy independent.

Napoleon once said that one should never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake. In this case, we have many enemies fighting amongst themselves who have made a series of mistakes. Let them continue down their paths of mutual destruction; unimpeded right through the very front gates of Hell.

The only time we should ever use the American military is when American lives and vital interests are at stake. To do otherwise exhibits a marked lack of concern for our nation, our people, and those who volunteered to defend both.