Imagine you live not in the twenty-first century AD but the first century BC. You are in a town that used to be occupied by Roman legions who left it to conquer other places. You don’t know how you ended up in that town, or what purpose you’re supposed to fulfill.
All you know is that things have changed since the
departure of the Romans except for the one legacy they left behind. It is the
amphitheater where they used to watch human gladiators and wild animals engage
in battles to the death. This form of entertainment is no longer practiced, but
one of the participants – a celebrity gladiator at the time of the Romans – put
his old skills to good use.
It is that when the Romans departed, all kinds of gangs
from the surrounding region raided the town’s folks, stole what they could from
them and ran away. This is when the gladiator got the idea of declaring himself
defender of the town. In time, the gangs learned that it didn’t do them much
good to attack the town, and so they left it alone.
With the passage of time, and no threat coming from the
outside, the role of the now aging ex-gladiator transformed gradually. The
change became apparent when a domestic dispute erupted in one of the
households. Unable to calm things down, the immediate neighbors called on the
gladiator to come and help, and he did. Having succeeded so well, the people
proclaimed him the town’s policeman.
Given the altruistic nature of his character, and the
history that brought him to where he is today, the gladiator opened himself to
being exploited, even abused by the small-minded folks. Knowing that whatever happens
in their town, things will not get out of hand because the gladiator will rush
to fix what went wrong, the undisciplined elements of the population played
their differences up to the edge of violent behavior. Every time that point was
reached, the folks called on the gladiator to get things to normal again, and
he responded positively to such calls.
Unfortunately, while this was happening, the old raiders from
outside the town, now accompanied by their grown offspring, learned that the
once mighty gladiator is no longer in a position to fight them as ferociously
as he did previously. That’s because time has taken its toll on him, and
because the town folks have increased the load on his shoulder by constantly
fighting among themselves and calling on him to restore the peace. And so, the
outside raiders started to attack the town again, and loot what they can like
the bad old days.
This is when you suddenly discover how you ended up in
that place, and what purpose you’re supposed to fulfill. It happened when the
gladiator came to you asking for advice on what to do next. Puzzled by his
visit to you and his request, you ask him to explain. He says he has a name
that should tell you everything you need to know. He is Uncle Sam. Upon that,
he snaps his finger and you wake up from a deep sleep in your twenty-first
century Washington apartment. You realize you were having a dream.
In real life, you own a political consulting firm. People
from all political stripes come to you for advice. You give them what they want
and they pay you. But once in a while, you also write an opinion piece and have
it published to inform the public of new developments taking place. These would
mostly be trends that society should be aware of if not weary of.
One such moment has arrived and likely was the cause for
you to have that dream. You learned about what was happening when you saw a
plea made to Uncle Sam—otherwise known as America—to intervene in a domestic
dispute unfolding far away.
The plea came in the form of an article under the title:
“For America to Be Secure, Assad must go,” and the subtitle: “The Assad regime is an affront to Western values, a
threat to US global influence, and an imminent danger to American national
security.” It was written by Tarek Kteleh, an American of Syrian descent, and
was published on October 1, 2022 in The National Interest.
Even though America is already involved – all albeit in a
small way – in the Syrian domestic dispute, Tarek Kteleh wants to see a more
expanded American involvement. He laments that this is not happening because of
the following:
“Some in Washington are fed up with
America's ongoing involvement in the now eleven-year-old Syrian Civil War. They
feel that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has mostly defeated the various
rebel factions, so it makes sense to patch things up with Assad, remove
sanctions on his regime, and wash our hands of the entire ordeal”.
To persuade Washington to change its mind and start
working on bringing about a regime change in Syria, Tarek kteleh left nothing
to the imagination as to how wicked Bashar al-Assad has been when dealing with
his people. Worse, how much of a threat he can be to America and the world if
left unchecked. Here, in condensed form, is a compilation of what’s in the
Kteleh article:
“Assad is the linchpin for most of
America's geopolitical enemies, including Iran, Russia, Hezbollah, and others.
Assad has engaged in brutal and unrelenting attacks against his own people. He
has taken over half a million lives and displaced about half the
country's population. Assad has used chemical weapons, imprisoned and
tortured innocent people on a massive scale, and deliberately
targeted civilians. Assad is a dictator, a war criminal, and a murderer.
He also happens to pose a very real threat to the most basic US security
interests. Assad has permitted Iran to use Syria as a safe harbor from
which to attack other countries in the Middle East, including Israel and
Jordan. Assad paid a visit to Tehran to fortify his relationship with
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Assad regime has a close, mutually
beneficial partnership with Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist organization.
Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to assist Assad, and the dictator has
returned the favor by funneling Iranian weapons to the group. The Assad regime
has helped bring together some of America's most dangerous geopolitical foes,
undermining American interests in the Middle East and around the world”.
It is this kind of overkill that got people in Washington
fed up with individuals and organizations that have foreign connections,
calling on America to play the role of gladiator they can summon when they feel
the itch to interfere in their country of origin.