So what is your red line? If Iran used a nuke and killed 1 million of it's own people

[Douglas Carpenter]

49. I supported President Clinton for taking action in Bosnia and Herzegovina conflict and in Kosovo

What made those conflicts very different to the discussion of military strikes on Syria - is that there was a very clear and achievable purpose. Also, I believe in those conflicts the dangers of not acting far exceeded the dangers of acting. IN this conflict - I can't identify anything achievable in which the risk of acting does not out way the risk of not acting. I think the New Yorker satirical piece by Andy Borowitz hit the nail right on the head. OBAMA PROMISES SYRIA STRIKE WILL HAVE NO OBJECTIVE http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/08/obama-promises-syria-strike-will-have-no-objective.html?currentPage=all

The truth of the matter is that if we did have an objective - it would mean a military campaign extensive enough to truly weaken Assad's grip on power - If that were to happen and opposition were to take power - we would see tremendous upheaval in Syria that caused far more suffering than any attacks by the Assad regime.

So, I do believe there are occasion in which military action is the right thing to do. But, I want to see a solid and clear objective in which the dangers of carrying it out are not greater than the dangers of not carrying it out. This situation does not meet that standard. And I would also say that governments of all sorts whether democratic or totalitarian lie about war - because in war the interest of the people and the interest of the government are the most divided. Although I don't reflexively oppose all military action. If a person did - reflexively oppose all military actions of the past 60 years they would have been right 80% of the time and wrong 20% of the time. If a person reflexively supported military action they would have been wrong 80% of the time and right 20% of the time. So although one does not need be reflexive - if one is going to be reflexive - the reflexes against military action are less likely to cause more problems and make things worse. If only the U.S. had been a lot less reflexive and a lot more thoughtful in its dealing in the Middle East over the past several decades - I do believe things would be a lot better and more stable.