Dear President Obama,
I do not have the requisite skills to criticize your administration or the choices you make and yet I am going to offer you an opinion. I am not an expert on the art of war, nor am I a political analyst. I am a human being, a citizen, a regular ole Joe who you will never meet. The common denominator between me and most people in this country is as follows: we are all against dropping bombs on Syria without a thorough explanation. It should have never taken the entire world to scream at the top of their lungs for you to "ask permission" for you to have a sit down with Congress.
Still, you should stop and listen. Your citizens are telling you to halt, the international community is asking you to pause. We in the proletariat might not have the debriefings you do, the ability to intercept information through the FBI, CIA, NSA or any other three-letter agencies. However, most of your people do not want you to attack Syria.
The use of chemical weapons is absolutely and unmistakably a crime against humanity. Seeing infants and toddlers modestly wrapped in a death cloth and lined up one after another is heart wrenching. One can only imagine what the people of Syria are going through as I type this from the comfort of my peaceful home. Yet we ourselves have blown up innocent civilians in drone strikes in the name of fighting terrorism. We cannot ignore this. The implications of boxing yourself into attacking Syria or having to back down are also monumental. I get that, and likely Syria will too when you begin sending cruise missiles to explode in a land we have no business policing.
At best, Mr. President, you owe the people of our great Nation an explanation. Sound bites from the evening news in which you and Secretary of State John Kerry say there is irrefutable evidence that Syria used chemical weapons in its own civil war are not enough. I am sure that I need not remind you of the recent past, when President George W. Bush, then the Nation's "Decider" invaded Iraq, acting on faulty information. Remember the Downing Street Memo, in which then Prime Minister Tony Blair said our intelligence should match our narrative? We are going to need more information than an "I am telling you" from your administration. It is only fair Mr. President. I can only hope you agree.
What is most shocking to most Americans and me is the fact you and your administration are publicly beating the war drums without providing the due diligence this problem deserves before going into a conflict. I feel silly reminding you of this, but all of these dirty wars in which we involve ourselves are carried out in our name, as Americans.
We are a nation of laws, Mr. President. You have accomplished much good in your administration. I hope that you will be mindful of the basic concerns your countrymen have, even if we are the small folks that you cannot see from the Oval Office. We are here watching and hoping that for once in our history, you might do the right thing. We don't need to make any more enemies around the world, and we don't want to be responsible for the deaths of more innocent children.
Sincerely,
Victor