As the situation in Syria develops, with Russia coming to the rescue of Obama’s “credibility”, it seems that there there is a good lesson to be had here.

Texas student Kenneth Depew of the University of St. Thomas notes that a look at past engagements features many other items that should have already been learned.

…Before we rush into another war, no matter how “limited,” we need to be certain of at least a few things.  We ought to know who are our enemies and our allies; our desired end state; and whether or not we can effect the situation in that it enables the achievement our aforementioned end state.

That choice is tough when it is between a dictator (who himself is the son of a dictator with ties to Iran and Hezbollah) or a wide assortment of rebels, some with ties to, or at the very least who fight alongside, Al Qaeda or subscribe to various Islamofacist philosophies.  In this instance, the enemy of my enemy is NOT my friend.

..When I was in Syria in 2007, I spoke to many people who talked about how the younger Assad allowed cell phones, the Internet, and satellite television; all of which had been banned before he assumed office.  He had moved to modernize the economy by privatizing banks, universities and other industries that had been public under the Ba’athist socialist economic policy.  He is no Jeffersonian or Madisonian, but he is also not an uncompromising Islamist.  He was pragmatic in a place where geopolitics is a game not to be played by amateurs.  This is no argument that Assad is a good guy, but that he had taken strides that his father would have never allowed.

….Any war in Syria will put the U.S., and most importantly, America’s fighting men, into a situation where winning is impossible.  We are not going to fix Syria’s internal dysfunction they have been fighting for almost two-and-a-half years.  We owe it to the men who will be sent into harms way to have thoroughly examined the situation, evaluate the human terrain, determine if we have any real allies among the competing groups, have clear and achievable goals, and use the sufficient amount of force needed to achieve success in a timely manner and then withdraw.

Otherwise, we lose.