Inaction Price Comes Due

The international press has recently come screaming to cover the refugee crisis currently swamping Europe in large part because the heartbreaking images readily available make for “good TV”. A more responsible approach to news gathering would be to take the political leadership of the west to task for allowing the conditions which produced this crisis to fester. 

The Syrian government under Assad allowed Syria to be a staging base for the Iraq insurgency against the US. As with other cases in the recent history they reaped the benefit of allowing radicalism to take root which produced everybody’s favorite bogeyman – ISIS. With everybody hemming and hawing and dithering over the needed “coalition” and other than the occasional bombing campaign nothing has been done to remove this cancer from the map. The Syrian refugees whom Turkey has hosted for several years are giving up hope due to the inaction of virtually everybody to address ISIS’ continued and completely unimaginable existence. Since they’ve given up hope of returning to their homes they seek a better, safer place for their family – Europe.

While the progressive press is showering praise on the European countries willing to take in the refugees, why isn’t it asking more pointed questions about the conditions allowed to persist that forced these people away from their homes. I know the Cantankerous Find will come riding to the rescue of Saint Barack because I have the temerity to question his leadership. When you refuse to take action because you “must” have the agreement of all alleged “allies” then nothing will ever get done. The continued existence of ISIS is an abomination, they have repeatedly used chemical weapons (technically weapons of mass destruction) against Peshmerga forces, routinely execute citizens on street corners, employ slave labor, etc, etc. Yet our president sits behind his façade of multilateralism while the Middle East burns. If he doesn’t think the results of his inaction will not come home (to the good ole US of A) to roost at some point in the next ten years then he is ignoring history. I, like so many Syrian refugees, have lost faith he will ever do anything.

My Charming Dinner Date Last Night

On the entirely more mundane front I enjoyed a day at home with my favorite Panamanian yesterday. It was so cool to hear the reports of traffic gridlock while sitting at home not having to worry about it, for once. She did come home from her girls’ weekend escape with a bad headache which I tried to be gallant about. She was feeling better by the end of the day so I took her out for dinner as the sun set. I can also confirm that the suspected poison ivy in the favorite son’s front yard is confirmed.