So your argument would also apply to all other acts done to please a deity? And belief in deities that desire/dictate that acts be done to please them is what is ultimately primitive, more than the specific nature of the act in this case?
Well, against a backdrop of previous US/Western engagement in the region, I think US/Western intervention in this case just further complicates the situation in the region. It's unlikely to make a huge difference to Assad's calculations, and given Iran's support for the Syrian government, will...
I'm not convinced the analogy applies here, though it's an interesting one, to be sure. It's a little more complicated, for a start, not least given previous US/Western engagement in the region.
Let's say there is absolute proof (or proof beyond reasonable doubt) that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against civilians - does that give the West the right to somehow punish the Syrian government for this action? If so, why?
Possible, of course. But methinks President Assad works to a different system of logic. And with Russia behind him, presumably he thinks he can act with impunity.
I don't doubt that a chemical attack occurred. And it is most likely the Syrian government. But it only just occurred, and I'm not a huge fan of throwing around accusations without proof, so am erring on the side of caution in this respect, for now at least.
In this instance, the Syrian government for their alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians (assume, for the moment, that the Syrian government were responsible).
I'm not sure about President Assad being a great statesman - to an extent this depends on what you mean by this - or of the wisdom of the US leaving NATO, but I'm equally unconvinced of the idea that it is the West's place to intervene on this score (as on many other scores). That said, what...