Valley Syrian worried U.S. could open Pandora’s box
Sep 6, 2013, 5:00 AM | Updated: 5:00 am
PHOENIX — A Valley woman who moved from Syria said she strongly opposes the United States military taking action in her homeland.
Jumana Hadeed said she has lost family members at the hands of the Assad regime and had another family member killed by rebel opposition.
Many in Congress have made it no secret that they support those rebel opposition groups. Hadeed said, as badly as she despises the Syria President Bashar al-Assad, she fears these opposition groups even more.
Hadeed said the United States will practically hand over Syria to radical groups — including members of al-Qaeda — if missile strikes are carried out.
“It didn’t work in Afghanistan or Iraq. It certainly won’t work in Syria,” she said. “It is very clear that there should not be any U.S. military strikes because it won’t accomplish anything.”
Hadeed said Americans know very little about the real situation in Syria beyond what they see on the news or hear about from Congress and President Barack Obama. She suggested that U.S. involvement could ignite a regional conflict that could lead to a stunning number of casualties, and not just within the Syrian borders.
“Absolutely it will escalate the killing and the bloodshed and we cannot afford to do that. Both sides need to negotiate peace ASAP.”
More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria’s brutal civil war. About 4,000 of those victims, including children, were killed by chemical weapons.