Remember when the “progressive” left spent 8 years swearing up and down hawkish “neo-cons” were the devil reincarnated for going to war in Iraq?
The progressive case for Syria action — Bill Burton, Politico
I hate the notion that there are “norms” of war.
But the appalling, senseless use of chemical weapons to slaughter civilians must not be tolerated – not by Americans and not by the international community. It was one of the great international progressive victories of the 20th century to prohibit the use of chemical weapons, and this fragile compact becomes meaningless if left unenforced. […]
If being a progressive means anything, it means standing up against the abuse of the powerless by the forces of the powerful. It’s what Bobby Kennedy stood for. It’s what defined every day of Paul Wellstone’s life in service — including the day he supported air strikes in Kosovo. It’s what President Barack Obama is standing for when says that in this time, on our watch, we will not tolerate the slaughter of innocents. We will not stand for the indiscriminate murder of men, women and the smallest citizens of our world with the worst weapons ever conceived.
The case for action isn’t just that Assad is evil, nor is it just that he targets his own people. It’s that chemical weapons are different. We have a duty to punish him for their use and if we fail to, more innocents will pay this same terrible price.
America has a responsibility to respond to Assad’s chemical attacks. For progressives, that fight is our fight.