re: #256 Varek Raith

Column In Top Conservative Publication Says U.S. Should Help Assad Fight Syrian Rebels

Daniel Pipes’ basic argument is that the influx of jihadis into rebel ranks means that the United States shouldn’t want either side to win definitively. Since it looks like Assad is losing, we should help him out until a bloody stalemate returns — a suggestion he proposes “as a humanitarian”:

I am changing my policy recommendation from neutrality to something that causes me, as a humanitarian and decades-long foe of the Assad dynasty, to pause before writing: Western governments should support the malign dictatorship of Bashar Assad.

Here is my logic for this reluctant suggestion: Evil forces pose less danger to us when they make war on each other. This (1) keeps them focused locally and (2) prevents either one from emerging victorious (and thereby posing a yet-greater danger). Western powers should guide enemies to stalemate by helping whichever side is losing, so as to prolong the conflict.