The progressive movement is in the throes of anti-war hysteria. The last 10+ years of incompetently and illegitimately waged warfare have clouded our judgment. Violence, regrettably, is sometimes the only way to advance the cause of humanitarianism.
I support a limited military strike by the Unite States on the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The American people owe a moral debt to the people of Syria. It is the same moral debt that all humanitarians owe to their fellow world-citizens. As believers in human rights, justice, and democracy, we are obliged to do what we can to bring these blessings to those who do not possess them. Our obligation remains the same regardless of nationality. Only our tactics change, not our duty.
Bashar al-Assad has lost whatever legitimacy he might have once possessed as ruler of Syria. If the United Nations and the global community had the same sense of ethical responsibility that President Obama has, a multinational force would depose the Assad regime, secure the country, and set it on the path to peace and prosperity. This will never happen, of course. But the weakness of the international community does not absolve us of our responsibility to act. We must do what we can.
Many of my fellow progressives have pointed out, rightly, that we don't really have any good options. We can't (and shouldn't) launch an Iraq style ground war. Destroying Syrian airfields and government buildings won't do much to stop the Syrian army from butchering its opponents. A military strike will endanger yet more civilians.
The absence of a good action is not an excuse to take no action.
Vietnam fatigue in 1975-79 led us to sit on our hands while 2 million Cambodians were slaughtered. "Black Hawk Down" fatigue in 1994 caused us to stand by as over half a million Rwandans were massacred. The United States can't cure all the world's ailments, but when grotesque violations of human rights take place, we have an obligation to at least try to do something about it.
Perhaps as progressives we are worried about the apparent hypocrisy of having sat on the sidelines of the Syrian Civil War for two and a half years, as 100,00 people have died. The United States is too weak to deny every tyrant the ability to persecute and murder his own people. If we have the strength, however, to establish a precedent that the use of chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction will not be tolerated, then we must act.
Our goal should be limited - convince Bashar al-Assad that it is not worth it to deploy any further chemical weapons. If a few cruise missiles can accomplish this, then it was an action well worth taking.
I support this course of action as a progressive and as a humanitarian. We must do what we can to prevent this from happening again. Doing nothing is a violation of the moral foundation that make us progressives.