Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

Pat Wheeler: Son, l……asked you over here because the Sheriff’s a friend of mine. He’s got trouble. He can use a good man.

Colorado Ryan: To go against the Burdettes, Sheriff?

Sheriff Chance: That’s right.

Pat Wheeler: I told him you were one of the best.

Colorado Ryan: Well…I’ll tell you what I’m a lot better at, Mr. Wheeler… that’s minding my own business. No offense, Sheriff.

Sheriff Chance: No offense.

Pat Wheeler: I never expected that.

Sheriff Chance: He showed good sense. like to have him.

Rio Bravo 1959

There were a lot of parables that Jesus told during his time teaching on earth. One of the most important ones is often ignored. It’s about prudence.

Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’

Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.

Luke 14 28-32

While it’s about the costs of discipleship it’s also about knowing what can be done and what can’t

And that brings me to Syria, one of the best evaluations of the situation that I read is in Arabic

It Translates thus:

Assad is another Arab dictator who has not learned from history. There is not a single dictator who has learned from history. The tragic thing is that the dictator falls and the state collapses and disintegrates, chaos spreads and overthrows, because the dictator creates a state of paper, and an authority of straw, based on oppression and repression. He crushes any alternatives or civil opposition, and then the terrorists come and crush him and crush everything. Syria is on its way to another Libya, another Taliban, or another Turkish-Brotherhood hegemony, but it will not return to the first Syria.

This is spot on. It’s a mess and it’s going to be messier. You know who also sees things in Syria as they are? Donald Trump:

Here is the full tweet, and note the last four sentences emphasis his:

Opposition fighters in Syria, in an unprecedented move, have totally taken over numerous cities, in a highly coordinated offensive, and are now on the outskirts of Damascus, obviously preparing to make a very big move toward taking out Assad. Russia, because they are so tied up in Ukraine, and with the loss there of over 600,000 soldiers, seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years. This is where former President Obama refused to honor his commitment of protecting the RED LINE IN THE SAND, and all hell broke out, with Russia stepping in. But now they are, like possibly Assad himself, being forced out, and it may actually be the best thing that can happen to them. There was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia, other than to make Obama look really stupid. In any event, Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!

The evaluation of Russia’s situation is good but what’s even better is his declaration that the United States should not get involved in that fight.

It’s not our mess and all that will happen if we get involved in it will be a lot of money and dead Americans for no return.

The good news is that in 43 days we’ll have a president who understands this.

The bad news is that until then we don’t know what the people who are currently running the country will do. I would not put it past them to try to get us in this mess just to mess up Trump.