9 Questions

Current-day Syria is a total mess.  I'm glad I'm not in Obama's shoes right now.  If he strikes Syria without consulting Congress, the cries for "impeachment" from the right will begin immediately.  If he consults Congress, there is no doubt they would say don't do anything, because the GOP is still too reflexively anti-anything-Obama.

The article below is a good one.  As with so many things, the situation has a lot of nuance, something that the GOP does not do well.  Those on the right and the left should read this and realize there are no good options.

9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask

The United States and allies are preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct U.S. intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.

If you found the above sentence kind of confusing, or aren’t exactly sure why Syria is fighting a civil war, or even where Syria is located, then this is the article for you. What’s happening in Syria is really important, but it can also be confusing and difficult to follow even for those of us glued to it.

Here, then, are the most basic answers to your most basic questions. First, a disclaimer: Syria and its history are really complicated; this is not an exhaustive or definitive account of that entire story, just some background, written so that anyone can understand it.

Go here for the rest.