The moral high ground has never been lower

Multiple articles from different publications have been released today using a variation of the title 'the moral case for intervention in Syria". I'm not even going to bother linking any of them, if you want to read that crap just Google the headline.

It is just so frustrating reading this sort of junk as we enter the second decade of the "war on terror". One which has seen the usage of depleted uranium during a "moral intervention". One which Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning has now been severely sentenced for revealing the massacre of innocents. One which has always been enacted under the guise of lies and half-truths. Morality in the last decade of death and destruction never entered the picture; from targeted killings of "suspected militants" to the complete destruction of civilian infrastructure. What fucking moral case?

To make a "moral case" about anything you must adhere to the moral values such a case would be based on. For instance, Justin Trudeau's admittance to smoking pot as an MP and his latest push for "legalizing" pot is founded on a moral argument however his argument is null and void because he supported mandatory minimum sentences for pot growers. Hypocrisy.

A look back at the track record of "western intervention" isn't exactly a highlight wheel to exemplify western military success. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, all failures now dealing with more violence and death than they ever had before. Not that we actually give a shit about that, it was always about the oil.

Shots fired at an oil tanker and accusations of attempted thefts at port facilities have deepened a crisis in Libya's oil industry, triggering fears among major Western oil companies that one of Europe's largest suppliers could soon descend into lawlessness.

Remember what happened prior to "intervention"?

Italy's oil company, Eni, has major oil and gas operations in Libya. So does British Petroleum. 

Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi is now saying that he may seize those operations and turn them over to India and China (and perhaps Russia as well).

Hah, the "moral case for intervention". What a joke. Yet despite all of the atrocities that western militaries have inflicted on the nations that "we're helping" we still tell ourselves how moral we are and how good we are. Iraq? Oh, well that was a mistake western nations need to "learn from", not a war crime, not an atrocity, simply a mistake.

Almost one year ago I posted my first post on the presence of al-Qaeda and "militants" in Syria, before anyone knew they were there really. Back then our western media was still feeding us the innocents and democratic protest bullshit that we don't even remember now. It was then stated by the Council on Foreign Relations that the rebellion in Syria would be dead in it's tracks if not for the "specter of al-Qaeda" in Syria. We have been helping "the terrorists" gain the foothold they now have in Syria since day 1. The violence, the chemical weapon attacks, all of it rests directly on the moral shoulders of the western nations that have "national interests" in Syria because we have continued whatever support is necessary so that the rebels can keep fighting and don't lose.

When Assad's forces began regaining territory it was then that the U.S. stepped up it's support for "the rebels". When Hezbollah got involved it was then that Israel (the U.S.?) began trying to cripple their offensive in the region.

We don't give a shit about death or chemical weapons. We love chemical weapons. We love death. We're killing people in foreign countries all the time outside of the rules of international law simply because we can and no other country is (yet) powerful enough to stop the great NATO terror force.

Not yet, perhaps, but throughout history aggressive militaries bent on world domination always tend to be defeated eventually by those they were oppressing. The major power center swings from east, to west, and back to east. Expect that one day we will be held responsible for our "moral" actions with an equally "moral" response.

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Richard Fantin is a self-taught software developer who has mostly throughout his career focused on financial applications and high frequency trading. He currently works for CenturyLink

Nazayh Zanidean is a Project Coordinator for a mid-sized construction contractor in Calgary, Alberta. He enjoys writing as a hobby on topics that include foreign policy, international human rights, security and systemic media bias.