Senator slips into Syria
During this Sunday’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we memorialize the suffering and sacrifice Jesus made in shedding his blood for the salvation of the world. While the people of Syria . . .
During this Sunday’s Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we memorialize the suffering and sacrifice Jesus made in shedding his blood for the salvation of the world. While the people of Syria suffer and sacrifice in the midst of a bloody civil war, there are growing calls in the West to save the day through active intervention. In a surprise move Monday, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a proponent of United States military action in Syria, slipped across the border from Turkey and met with rebel leaders inside Syria.
McCain said meeting members of Syria's opposition face-to-face in the country they're fighting to control deepened his conviction that the U.S. should become further engaged in the conflict. The Arizona Republican said meeting 18 commanders with the Free Syrian Army provided an in-the-flesh reminder of the civil war's human cost.
"When you look at the faces of these people and hear their stories, so many of them have lost family members, so many of them have lost friends," McCain said." McCain became the first U.S. senator to visit the country since civil war broke out more than two years ago. He traveled roughly one kilometer inside Syria to meet with rebel leaders from different Syrian cities and remained in the country for several hours.
The Obama administration said on Tuesday it knew in advance of McCain's trip. President Barack Obama has repeatedly shied away from U.S. involvement in the conflict, which has claimed 80,000 lives, although he has kept all options on the table. The Obama administration has sent food and medical supplies to Assad's opponents.
Homily hint: How should believers in peaceful conflict-resolution respond to a situation where a ruthless regime attacks its own citizens? How do good people resist violent evil without resorting to violence themselves? Clearly the world has not found the answer yet, but that does not make the questions any less valid.
McCain said meeting members of Syria's opposition face-to-face in the country they're fighting to control deepened his conviction that the U.S. should become further engaged in the conflict. The Arizona Republican said meeting 18 commanders with the Free Syrian Army provided an in-the-flesh reminder of the civil war's human cost.
"When you look at the faces of these people and hear their stories, so many of them have lost family members, so many of them have lost friends," McCain said." McCain became the first U.S. senator to visit the country since civil war broke out more than two years ago. He traveled roughly one kilometer inside Syria to meet with rebel leaders from different Syrian cities and remained in the country for several hours.
The Obama administration said on Tuesday it knew in advance of McCain's trip. President Barack Obama has repeatedly shied away from U.S. involvement in the conflict, which has claimed 80,000 lives, although he has kept all options on the table. The Obama administration has sent food and medical supplies to Assad's opponents.
Homily hint: How should believers in peaceful conflict-resolution respond to a situation where a ruthless regime attacks its own citizens? How do good people resist violent evil without resorting to violence themselves? Clearly the world has not found the answer yet, but that does not make the questions any less valid.
Sources: Articles by Anne Barnard for the New York Times and Kevin Liptak for CNN