Haley Barndt Professor Sheri Sowards US Government and Politics 19 September 2013

Dear Editor, I am writing to you as a representative of Salt Lake Community College Political Science Students, with regards to the chemical weapons launched in Syria on August 21, 2013. From reports heard throughout the news, nearly 1,500 civilians including at least 426 children were killed by who we believe to be the Assad regime. There has been much debate recently weather the United States should proceed with military action against Syria. As a representative of this group we are questioning the benefits if we get involved with military action against Syria. We believe that we should not take military action in Syria for many reasons. First if we get involved does it become our responsibility? Second, what are the possible threats of terrorist attacks on the United States? Finally, we have so many of our own problems that need be taken care of, why dont we begin with local issues first. These are only a few questions we discussed that should be considered before intervening. If we take military action against Syria, do all remaining problems then become our responsibility? If we decide to bomb Syria we could possibly put innocent civilians in harms way. From past events the economic re-growth of a country after military invasion is a long slow process. Are we then responsible for assisting in the re-growth? The president has said they will not deploy ground troops into Syria, but we will bomb the possible places of threat. If the government decides we need more military assistance after the bombings will we then deploy troops. Will these troops help aid in aftermath? How long will they be there for? If we dont send troops are we going to bomb the place and leave it? This could be

years in the making. It could be the beginning of another war. We do not need to take more lives, spend more money and time focusing on other countries problems. If we get involved, we then have to ask ourselves if we are ready and prepared to take on any terrorist attack to the United States. Taking military action against any country sets us up for some possible threat. We are still mending scars taken on twelve years ago during the September 11 attacks. We believe it is in the counties best interest to not get involved in another war. Think about how many innocent lives were taken and where it took our country once we got involved with the war in Iraq. We believe the efforts in Syria will take more than a few bombs to dismantle Assads regime and the use of chemical weapons. The last thing we need is to solely focus our attention on someone elses problems right now. Our government needs to start focusing on our own country. Our national debt is now fourteen trillion dollars. There are so many proposals that have been made by our President and Congress that have not happened. If we choose to take on this war in Syria our issues here will be put on hold. We want to see progress being made in our own country before taking on another countries issues. There are so many people struggling in our own country right now. Why not take a step back and help our country become the country it once was? Overall, there are many factors that come with taking on another countries problems. Are we assuming responsibility for the aftermath of the bombings? Due to our involvement with the bombings are we prepared to take on possible terrorist attacks against the United States? Finally, we have many issues and proposals in our country that have not been met. We want to see progress here and we believe that will not happen if we begin another war. We strongly believe that we should not proceed with military action against Syria. Sincerely, Haley Barndt, Representative of SLCC Political Science Student Group