The modern world is characterized by the ever-increasing understanding of the value of the human life. The humanistic ideas are proclaimed to be the motto of our age and people should do anything to avoid the further development of violence, manslaughter and wars. Having accepted this ideas, the humanity entered to the era of humanism, characterized by the great attention to the human rights, the man in the whole and by the constant wars and military conflicts. The combination of that facts seems impossible, but hundreds of victims of different skirmishes cannot be ignored and serve as a good approval of the fact. Any military conflict has devastating character. Military involvement is pernicious for all sides of the conflict. The adherents of the war lead their own country and the whole modern world to the catastrophe.
The Middle East was always the reason of the strain in the whole world. The mentality of the peoples living there and the interference of different countries, studying their own interests, into the policy of Eastern world lead to constant military conflicts. There is hardly a moment in the modern history characterized by the peace in the Middle East. The interest of the foreign countries for that region could be easily explained by the presence of the great oil accumulations, which have become a strategic source in the modern world. It is no wonder that, the modern suerstates are also the biggest oil suppliers to the world market. This mineral resource can be the important lever of pressure in the policy. That is why the total control of its deposits is absolutely vital for them. The USA, being one of the modern superstates, has its own interests in the Middle East. The American interference has already led to Afghanistan and Iraq wars. There were the great debates about the reasons and justifiability of that step, though there is not general consensus still. However, now the Eastern world is shaking from another military conflict and America is at the edge of interfering. The surface reason is an activity of the new military organization. However, mass media calls it terrorist organization – “a new terrorist organization had been created in the Middle East; a powerful group that would make Al-Qaeda look ridiculous. The international media have called it ISIS, which stands for the “Islamic State in Iran and Syria”” (Juste “It’s Not Too Late to Change ISIS to ISIL” par. 1). The organization, whether terrorist or just military, depending from the point of view, fights with the American and its subordinated forces in order to “establish a vast caliphate (Islamic State) in Iraq and Syria and then in other Muslim countries in the Middle East” (Juste “It’s Not Too Late to Change ISIS to ISIL” par. 4). The threat of the formation of that state is really great as the terrorists storming they way forward, taking new and new territories and obtaining new forces, weapons and sometimes, even the support of locals. The USA has already reacted to their actions by the rocket attacks. The question is, whether America leaves it at that, because some of the U.S. officials warn, that it can be just the beginning of a greater military operation, which will last for years and will be very difficult to stop because of the peculiarities of the mentality of the Eastern world.
Much depends from the president of the USA Barak Obama, of course. He is known to be not such war addict as the former president of the USA George Bush was, having more moderate judgments and not making a facile decisions. One more point, showing his more peaceful character is the fact, that he was awarded with a Nobel Price of Peace, at the beginning of his first presidential term, that automatically makes him more reluctant to start any war at all (Jonel “To War or Not to War?” par. 1). It is up for him to decide whether the all-out war should start. The usage of the air strikes is quite doubtful, as the main targets for the strikes were oil facilities, power plant and a granary, which were under the control of the terrorist organization, but “the damage to those facilities has caused shortages and price hikes across the rebel-held north that are harming ordinary Syrians more than the well-funded militants” (Sly par.4). Obviously, the results are quite contradictory and cause different reaction all over the world. Long suffering Syria is again becoming the base for the military operations. The results of the opposition of the loyal to the President Bashar al-Assad army and his assailants forces are terrifying. More than 100,000 people were killed and the infrastructure of the whole districts was destroyed. As a result, having lost their hope and homes, thousands of people had to migrate from the devastated land, trying to find shelter somewhere else.
Now, the new military conflict is about to start, causing another thousands of deaths. “The attacks in Syria marked the start of a new phase, coming six weeks after the U.S. military began a similar campaign of airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in neighboring Iraq” (Whitlock para 5). The experience of the past wars in the Middle East can show, that it is rather doubtful to expect the fast ending of the war. The consequences of it are quite obvious.
The first and the most important is the further deterioration of the life of common Serbians. Forced to live in the terrible conditions, suffering from illnesses and. hunger, they will also have to shelter from the air strikes. The wars of that kind are always characterized by the great number of civil casualty. The situation is absolutely unacceptable in the era of humanism. Supporting the idea of helping people in Syria, the military operation will cause the great number of victims, including not only terrorists.
The second argument against the war is more mercantile. The USA uses Tomahawk missiles as the weapon in this conflict. According to the official U.S. military reports, “it had launched a combined 47 missiles from two warships, the USS Philippine Sea, a guided missile cruiser, and the USS Arleigh Burke, a destroyer.” (Lamothe par.3). One missile costs approximately $569,000. It is not difficult to count the total price of the rocket strike. The salary to the militaries, the price of the ships and its maintenance should be added to the sum. The result will stagger the imagination. The question of the necessity of such colossal spending appears. The USA has the greatest external debt in the world which is raising every single moment. It is for sure that the better way to spend this sum exists. There is a great number of problematic branches in the USA. The better usage for this money could have been found, for example, in the sphere or education.
The third important reason against the USA intervention to Syria is the aggravation of the international relations. Being rather disputable nowadays, the Syria question can lead to the further development of the crisis in the Russian-American relations, as Russia is the greatest opponent of the USA intervention. The strains in the relations of two atomic superstates can lead to the World War, which results are quite obvious.
Having analyzed the following facts it easy to come to the certain conclusions. Unfortunately, the modern age is not as peaceful as it was expected. The numerous military conflicts shake it, resulting in the great social disruptions. Thousands of victims just do not make any sense. The world has passed through the hell of two total wars and now, staying at the edge of the third one, the society should reconsider its priorities. The price of the human life should not only be declared in different solutions. The society should do everything to protect it. The war is the constant companion of the humanity and it is impossible to get rid of it totally. Though, the representatives of different states and cultures should do everything to minimize the probability of it. The USA is now making the first steps to start the all-out war in the Middle East. It is absolutely up for the president to determine the future of the state and of the word in the whole. Having taken into account all the possible risks of the economic collapse of the state and the probable consequences of his solution, he has to make the only possible decision. The new war will only lead to the further escalation of the violence in the Middle East region.
Works Cited
Juste, Jonel. “It’s Not Too Late to Change ISIS to ISIL”. The Reporter. 2014. Web.
“To War or Not to War?”. The Reporter. 2013. Web.
Lamothe, Dan. “Tomahawk missiles the latest U.S. weapon used against Islamic State”. The Washington Post. 2014. Web.
Sly, Liz. “U.S.-led air war in Syria is off to a difficult start”. Washington Post. 2014. Web.
Whitlock, Craig. “U.S. military leaders: Strikes in Syria are just the start of a prolonged campaign”. Washington Post. 2014. Web.