The Syrian Civil War has been an issue of national concern for over two years, when a rebellion broke out upon the discovery of children of the Syrian regime’s opposition.  Although the national interest waned over those years, Syria took over the front pages of America on August 21 when sarin gas, a nerve gas 26 times more deadly than cyanide, was used to gas thousands of Syrian civilians.

The issue is still unresolved, and still incredibly complicated.  One of the most interesting facets, to me at least, was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s op-ed to the New York Times, especially his paragraph on American exceptionalism.  Putin says in the op-ed, “It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”

This sounded very familiar to me.  The last line echoes the Declaration of Independence, the document which is the core of American exceptionalism, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”  The fact that our government is based on this concept is what makes America exceptional, instead of any policy set forth by the government.

Despite this truth, Americans are hesitant to intervene in Syria.  Americans have seen too many American lives lost in Middle Eastern wars, and do not want to see another long, drawn-out conflict.  As an American, this makes sense to me.  “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” reads the Declaration.  The government established here secures our rights, no more and no less.  Conquering the world does nothing to spread the truths our Declaration professes, only prove the military power of America. 

However, as a Christian, I feel another level of obligation.  I feel called to reach out and do all I can to help those people, however far away they may be.  Every person is created in the image and likeness of God, and has a fundamental dignity which should be preserved.

This is where much of my inner conflict over the situation stems from.  Seeing the conflict through two lenses is difficult, and discerning what is right for the country to do while deciding I personally have a different obligation is something tough to reconcile.  The Syrian people still have the same natural rights we enjoy as Americans, but they lack a government to secure those rights.  It is tough to believe the Syrians must establish a new government on our own when the colonists required foreign assistance to win our own revolution.  The issue becomes even more complicated when I realize the moderate factions who began the rebellion have been replaced with radical Islamists, including al-Qaida fighters. 

Not fighting against a dictator who almost certainly slaughtered thousands of his own people feels wrong on a personal level.  Politically, it doesn’t seem right to intervene when there is no risk to American security.  This leaves me with more questions than answers, even after interviewing Rene Paddags, a professor of political science at Ashland.

“Hopefully we will see a resolution to this awful conflict in the next couple months,” he said to end the interview, and I am starting to believe this is the only option.  Hope for the situation to come to a peaceful end, and that human life be valued in Syria, because there is no clear cut winner. 

Paddags said the best outcome would be for the moderate factions to win the war, but that is also the least likely outcome.  The civil war in Syria is becoming more complicated, rather than less, and there are millions of innocent people stuck in the middle.  Something has to be done, but I do not have a clue what that something ought to be.  I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I am still far better off than the people of Syria, and I think we all ought to remember that.