GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, U.S.A. – While President Obama attempts to persuade Congress to take military action on Syria, the nation is in uproar about the possibility of having a second Iraq war on its hands.
Though President Obama can authorize military action against Syria without Capitol Hill’s approval, it seems he wants Congress to pull the trigger, including the Republican-controlled House.Clearly, Obama is scared of putting the country through another Iraq.
He should be.
Whether or not ground troops will be used in Syria remains uncertain, but if they are needed, it most likely will lead to thousands of American deaths fighting in a country we should not be in.
Military action against Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons has a second Iraq written all over it.
According to Business Insider, the war launched by Bush in 2003 in Iraq killed 4,488 American troops, 134,000 Iraqi civilians and cost $1.7 trillion, all of it squandered to find weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist.This is what could happen again if the nation goes to war against Syria.
It’s a risk the United States cannot take for a war that is completely unnecessary to its safety.
Syria is not a direct threat to the U.S., even less of a danger than Iraq and Saddam Hussein a decade ago.
This is also a war that the country cannot afford to wage. I mean, come on, there’s no money left.
In his willingness to wage war, Obama is looking more and more like Bush. And that scares me.
Aiman Jarrar is a Reporter for Youth Journalism International.
