About 20 members of the peace community gathered today in front of Syracuse’s federal building to oppose any military intervention in Syria.
The Syracuse Peace Council’sAmelia Ramsey-Lefevre led the rally...
“The civil war in Syria has already seen an enormous loss of life. Our main goal in opposing US military strikes on Syria is to prevent escalation of the war and further loss of life. There’s no evidence that bombing Syria will make life better for Syrian civilians. And history teaches us that US military involvement could have catastrophic unintended consequences.”
Long-time peace activist Ed Kinane says the scenario reminds him of the run up to the unprovoked invasion of Iraq.
“I’m afraid the US does not have the moral standing to intervene. It doesn’t have the track record of acting in good faith toward peoples in other countries.”
He says he witnessed firsthand the devastation when he visited the country during the “shock and awe” period. Kinane says the u-s has to get away from this pattern...
“Much of US foreign policy is driven by the military-industrial complex. And much of that complex are corporations that make profit from killing people and destroying cities and destroying nations.”
Kinane is also concerned about spillover effects into neighboring countries, especially Israel, Iran, and Jordan. The Peace Council is calling for a diplomatic, humanitarian response to de-escalate the conflict and get aid to those suffering as a result of the civil war.
