We, the undersigned, stand strongly opposed to any military intervention in Syria including limited bombing raids of selected targets. Military action or intervention is a last resort when all other multi-lateral efforts have completely failed; such as concerted regional diplomacy, sincere peace talks, international sanctions, and no fly zones. Syria has not attacked the United States, its citizens, or its military personnel.According to international law as defined by the United Nations,The United States has no basis or rationale for direct military action against Syria. It also has no authority, responsibility or the right to assume the role of world police free to apply deadly force without the full approval of the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the Arab League and other nations in the region.A U.S. strike on Syrian territory without approval of the Security Council falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court as a “Crime of Aggression,” and is in direct violation of the Charter of the United Nations.We recognize that war crimes are being committed, but our role should be to work with the rest of the world to bring those responsible for such heinous crimes to justice in the World Court. A unilateral action of the sort that is being contemplated would only aggravate the situation and escalate the violence and involve us in another messy and open-ended sectarian struggle.

The implications of such an attack are far-reaching, and the backlash will not only be against U.S. citizens around the world, but also on the already strife-stricken countries of the larger Middle East. We stand opposed to the justification of war, limited or otherwise, being presented to us by the Obama administration. We believe, as citizens, that the best path to ending the violence in Syria and the illegal and internationally prohibited use of chemical weapons is through creative diplomacy, international sanctions, containment, humanitarian relief and other non-military actions. The United States continually stands up to condemn any form of violence in other countries around the world, even as sovereign governments justify their measures as matters of national security. We believe that in our own actions as a nation we should set the example we wish for others to follow; that of dialogue and peaceful resolution.

Links