More than Empty Suits with A Good-looking Face Selling Hope

Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve Commander Maj. Gen. Kevin Leahy and Joint Operations Command for Iraq Deputy Commander Gen. Qais Khalaf Rahima receive a briefing about Syria’s security situation in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 11, 2024. “We are closely monitoring ongoing developments in Syria with our Iraqi Coalition partners,” said Maj. Gen. Kevin Leahy, Commander, CJTF-OIR. “CJTF-OIR is committed to assisting Iraq to defend against ISIS or other terrorist groups that threaten Iraqi security.” The Coalition advises, assists, and enables partner forces to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and its radical and extremist ideologies. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Trenton Pallone)

As America performs our scheduled regime change, Syria has been going through its own transition. This has been a major issue in the confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard for director of national security and a source for the ridiculous questioning of her patriotism.

Photo by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The people of Syria have disbanded the dominant “Ba’ath Party.” (BP) This is an important official step. It ratifies what the original sanctions were meant to do, which is cripple and weaken deposed president Bashar Al Assad. It clearly worked but puts a microscope on Gabbard’s competency to aggregate the right intelligence for President Donald Trump. While grating on the uncomfortable norm of an establishment pick for the president, he has clearly stated his value on loyalty over policy application expertise

The history and symbolism of the BP has painful memories for both Syrians and Americans who go all the way back to the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. The dismantling of the Baathist is considered a blunder for the US because, in hindsight, it seemed avoidable. Whether it was hubris or miscalculations, it happened. The global community is well served to pause and look at their playbooks in the early years of post-Sadaam Iraq.

Those same tensions and dynamics are filled with lessons. Returning to those that had established a stability in 2010 and 2011 Iraq is the most conceivably sensible place to begin for a generation that was in diapers when 9/11 occurred. They won’t see it like the ones that came before them and the fact must be grappled with maturely.

What’s likely been already happening and what is something most people don’t want to talk about is that discussions on Syria have already been occurring. Sanctions and laws were skirted and ignored by our regional allies. Frustrating, yes, but that doesn’t diminish the need for deference in the moment. In an age of individualized grievances, we lose track of the reality that moments in history aren’t about us and our personal interests. It’s history; it just happens to be the history we are in.

But the friction in the alliance has created space and space created can breed chaos. If a plan to allow officials to legally speak to the transitional government in Damascus isn’t already in play, it should be drawn up. Oversight and enforcement of aid integrity is something the American people voted for in November.

While a small percentage of people are gleeful about the misery of those impacted by the transition, most don’t want policy out of spite. The aid given to the world isn’t the problem; it’s the treatment of Americans when they are the wrong-thinking side that is an issue for many. The rage and use of the media is imbalanced and fueled by cruelty and humiliation. Rarely is it about accomplishments and achievements we progress towards together.

To all observers of the war in Syria in its totality, the incendiary elements give many cause for great pause. What the world calls the people who control the centralized power in Damascus is not currently agreed upon. That baseline starter needs to be addressed. Diplomacy needs to be cool and appreciated for its true value.

It can’t always be an empty suit with a good-looking face selling hope. There needs to be heart behind it. To sell one’s way of life, at minimum one should have to define what they like about their way of life. Self-loathing is a comedy branding; not a resume point for a global security job.

Having such an obstacle before any official steps towards reconciliation with the Syrian Revolution that raged against Assad and fellow religiously motivated zealots and criminals is hard enough. The emotions are strong, on the surface and generationally. Grace and understanding appear to have been earned while vigilant verification of Syria’s “New Normal” is prudent and sober.

The United States has the strength to allow Syria space and arrange a respectable understanding. Both sides have become very proficient at war. The innovation in peace has been lacking and both sides have plenty of blame to own.

From local elections to global conflict, the way we speak about our processes have become so charged, merely sharing an opinion can create its own chaos. We can “influence” without trying or even knowing.

A choice to be wiser with our words is a matter of national public health. Our toxic politics go out into the world and return back home. Not unlike small bits of plastics in the ocean that return to the shore or infected chickens come home to roost. What we put into the world creates the ripples that make waves and return to the shore from which the stone was dropped.

The remedy here is a conscious choice to speak with authenticity on politics or don’t talk about them. At the same time, try not being so offended by the people who don’t agree with your preferred policy. America is an example for the process of growth and change for the world. How we treat each other matters to how the rest of the world feels it can behave as our guests.

Ethics in media and ethics in what we share is the answer. Verify before you share.