Bachelder letter: Syria

I noticed in the Feb. 27 issue of the Statesman that one story had contradictory headlines, i.e., “Truce in Syria comes with price, but not for Assad.” Then, same page, “There’s no alternative to a managed transition away from Assad,” a quote from President Obama.

Syria is a mess, and Assad is a failure as a leader — 250,000 deaths and people fleeing the country in droves. His own people can’t stand him. He is discredited among nations. The only thing holding him in place is the military. Even Russia has to prop him up. He hasn’t paid any price? Why hasn’t journalism dealt more harshly with him? He deserves scorn and contempt, not Obama.

The far right can go suck an egg. Obama got it right. He kept this country out of a morass like Bush got us into in Iraq. There isn’t money in the treasury to pay for any more “wounded warriors” (historically known as “cannon fodder”).

My suggestion for defeating ISIS is not to kill the fighters but to bomb their homelands and families. Hey, it worked to end World War II, brutal though it was. Learning from history.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Bachelder letter: Syria."