Stop the massacre in Syria with drones

“We must defend liberty and justice because these principles are right and true for all people everywhere.”

The above is a quote from former President George W Bush.  On its face, it seems quite reasonable.  Unfortunately, he used it as a justification to spend a trillion or more dollars off budget to invade and occupy Iraq from March 2003 to the end of his presidency.  Current President Barack H Obama has just ended our occupation of Iraq (too soon, it seems, for conservatives) as of the end of December 2011.  Saddam Hussein was convicted in a show trial and hanged.  Bush never even considered handing Hussein over to the World Court, where his life would have been spared.  Total American deaths exceeded 4,000.  Worst of all, the government we left behind is deeply flawed and shows signs of reverting to the repression and terror that Hussein used.

In the meantime, (March through November 2011) President Obama authorized our participation in a “no fly zone” that, liberally interpreted, protected the Libyan rebels until they were able to capture (and hot headed militia men murdered) Muammar Gaddafi.  All told, the cost to the US taxpayer was said to be about a billion dollars, and no American fliers were killed.

Which of these two interventions would you prefer?  Neglecting the cost, which was more humane?

What should we do about Syria?  I would suggest that we use drone aircraft to initiate a “no heavy weapons zone” which would level the battlefield between Bashar al-Assad and the Free Syrian Army.  The cost to us would be minimal, the likehood of civilian casualties small, and the effect on al-Assad would be lethal.

Before initiating this policy, I suggest that we obtain the consent of the Arab League.  It would be impossible to obtain consent from the UN Security Council, but at least a General Assembly resolution could be requested.

Opinions, anyone?