Some residents of Syrian descent say they aren't convinced that the government was responsible for what authorities believe to have been a chemical weapons attack and don't want to see any U.S. military action.
Aziz Wehbey, head of the Syrian American Society in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, said his group staged an impromptu protest Tuesday night in Allentown, Pa. and planned another event at noon Friday in the city.
He said he doesn't believe it wouldn't make sense for the government to launch the Aug. 21 attack with United Nations inspectors already in Damascus investigating an earlier report of chemical weapons use.
The Obama administration is reportedly considering some kind of military action aimed at deterring future chemical weapons attacks. But Wehbey said that would only further fracture the country.
In New Jersey's state capital, Damaus Castillo said while war is never good, something needs to be done to stop the alleged horrors being committed in Syria.
“We’re never really ready but unfortunately as the only remaining superpower we sort of have, by default, become the world’s police force,” Damarus Castillo said. “Given the atrocities there, as I understand them, somebody needs to do something.”
Rider University professor and Middle East expert Dr. Jonathan Mendilow says no matter what U.S. officials choose to do, the decision will never be correct.
“There are no good choices. Aiding one of the sides would bring us into a conflict and we don’t know where it ends," he said.
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