Last night on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow made a good argument (as she usually does) for allowing the UN Weapons Inspectors in Syria to complete their task before the United States rushes to launch a military strike.

Quoting former UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix, she reported that Blix said the inspectors would be able to determine what kind of chemical agents were used, and who possessed them, but it would take about a month. Huffington Post interview


If this can be determined, it would seem to be a prudent course of action to wait until the UN inspectors can complete their task and release their findings before the US responds, but news sources in the USA are reporting that US officials have "evidence" that al-Assad used chemical weapons. Obama seems eager to emulate former President Bush's actions in the run-up to the Iraq war - and what a tragic fiasco that war turned out to be. There is (supposedly) political pressure for Obama to act, even though a significant number of US citizens express reluctance for the US to get involved in another Mid-East conflict. So why is there all this urgency to repeat the recent mistakes of the previous administration? Syria will still be there a month from now. Let's wait and think this thing through rationally before beginning the bombing.