The Milwaukee Post

April 21, 2017 • Milwaukee County Post • 9 OPINION Legislature made right call on public notices To the editor: The Wisconsin newspaper industry would like to thank the members of the state Legislature for removing language from the proposed state budget that would have eliminated the newspaper publication of many local government public notices. By keeping public notices in newspapers the members of the Legislature defended the public's right to know and they are to be commended for doing so. Thanks also go out to our many readers who called their legislator and made their voices heard. The removal of this misguid- ed provision from the budget was evidence that our legislators are listening and we are grateful for that. The budget proposal would have elimi- nated more than 50 public notices, includ- ing ordinances, resolutions, budget sum- maries, meeting minutes and financial reports. Local governments would have been allowed to post these notices on gov- ernment websites instead of publishing them in the local newspaper. The removal of newspaper publication would have done away with the important system of checks and balances that ensures government and the courts have provided legally required notice to the affected public. Newspapers remain the trusted vehicle used by every state in the nation for notify- ing the public of the activities of the gov- ernment and the courts both in print and online. Wisconsin is arguably one of the leading states in the nation when it comes to the technology applied to the tracking of every public notice published by a govern- mental entity. In addition to print, the Wisconsin news- paper industry provides online publication and archiving of all Wisconsin public notices. In 2005 the Wisconsin newspaper industry launched WisconsinPublicNotices.org — a compre- hensive, searchable public notice website. The website is available at no cost to all cit- izens of the state of Wisconsin offering direct links to public notices that were first published in Wisconsin newspapers. Every public notice from every newspaper pub- lished since 2005 can be found on the news- paper industry website in an easy-to-use, searchable platform. I was asked recently why local newspa- pers are still successful. I believe the answer lies in the investments we make in our com- munities. Our dedicated staff members work hard to become experts on the people and markets they serve. Newspapers pro- vide access to local news and information at a level that remains unmatched by any other media outlet. Newspapers continue to be vitally impor- tant to the fabric of our country, particular- ly in rural communities where we are a pri- mary voice of the people. We are pleased that the members of the Legislature recog- nize the important role that newspapers play in keeping the public informed of the actions of state and local government. John D. Ingebritsen President, Wisconsin Newspaper Association board of directors Regional publisher, Morris Newspaper Corporation of Wisconsin LETTERS TO THE EDITOR By OWEN B. ROBINSON In 2013, I opened a column called "Drifting Toward Damascus" with this paragraph: "As I sit down to write a col- umn about our current situation in Syria, I fail to discern any coherent foreign poli- cy coming from my president's adminis- tration. If you can, you are probably filling in the gaps with wishful thinking." As I sit down to write another column about Syria, the same opening would suffice. After Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons to murder more than 80 people, including kids, President Trump retaliated with a missile strike on a Syrian air base. The scenario was reminis- cent of Assad's previous use of WMDs during the previous administration. In 2013, Assad used sarin gas to attack more than 1,000 Syrians. In doing so, he crossed President Obama's infamous "red line" and the Obama administration responded with huffy rhetoric. Now it is 2017 with the same Assad but a different American president. When Assad used chemical weapons this time, Trump responded immediately with a punitive strike and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is signaling a new American goal of toppling the Assad regime. Yet the Trump administration is promising to keep American forces out of Syria and Trump's rhetorical "America first" isola- tionism was a major facet of his recent successful presidential campaign. Although a different president has brought us a different reaction, America still lacks a coherent Syrian policy. The problem is that there are no good answers left for America in Syria. There was a time when direct American intervention could have yielded posi- tive results, but that time has passed. The Syrian civil war began with an uprising in the spring of 2011. As part of the so-called Arab Spring, secular pro-democracy pro- testers rose up to demand Assad's resigna- tion. When Assad refused to resign, as tyrants are wont to do, and launched a vio- lent crackdown on the protesters, the pro- testers hardened their opposition and the fight for Syria was on. The time for American intervention was 2011. If President Obama had used the power of the United States to support the secular pro-democracy opposition at that time, there might be a peaceful, secular, democratic Syria today. But speculation in alternate histories is the luxury of writ- ers. The Syrian civil war has evolved sig- nificantly since 2011 and America must deal with the present realities. Since 2011, the Syrian civil war has descended into a sectarian war with no good guys for America to support. In battle with each other are Assad's tyrannical government, radical Islamist Sunni rebels, Kurdish forces, Hezbollah, and of course, the Islamic State. According to the United Nations commission of inquiry, all of them have been engaging in horrific war crimes including murder, torture, slavery, using civilians as human shields, forced starvation, and the use of WMDs. The Syrian civil war has also taken on significant international importance as it pulled regional and world powers into the conflict. The deluge of refugees from Syria and surrounding areas has had a destabi- lizing effect on several Middle Eastern and European nations, putting pressure on the international community to intervene. As the war has devolved partially into a reli- gious war between different Muslim sects, several Muslim countries have intervened to support their sides. Shia Iran and Lebanon are supporting Assad as Sunni Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and others support rebel factions. Finally, Russia entered the war on the side of Assad as part of Vladimir Putin's lifelong effort to reclaim Russia's dominance on the world stage. As America retreated from the Middle East, Russia entered the chasm. In deciding what America should do about Syria, two questions must be answered. The first question is, should America do anything? That is a broad question, the answer to which depends on one's valuation of the word "should." There are some who believe that America should be the world's conscience and act in the name of human rights. There are some who believe that America should only intervene if there is a direct American interest at stake. And there are some who believe that America should never do anything unless directly attacked. In this case, there are no good guys to support, there are no direct American interests at stake and America has not been attacked. The only good reason for America to intervene in the Syrian civil war is as a general policy to try to stabilize the region to quell the radicalization of people and the outflow of terror groups. If one thinks America should intervene, then the second question to be answered is, what can America do? Short of a full- scale invasion and occupation of Syria with all of the risks of igniting a global conflict with Russia and Iran, America's options are very limited. And the American people have no appetite for such an earth-shattering endeavor. America should stay out of the Syrian civil war. There is little likelihood that American intervention could yield a posi- tive outcome and the risk of embroiling our nation in another long, bloody, and expensive war is very high. America should do what we can to help the suffer- ing, assist our allies, and protect American interests and American bor- ders. No more. No less. (Owen B. Robinson is a West Bend resi- dent whose column appears occasionally in The Milwaukee County Post. He can be reached at owen@bootsandsabers.com.) Drifting toward Damascus, again Robinson

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