By Constitution Staff

Two hundred demonstrators gathered at the Oklahoma Capitol on July 12 to oppose American intervention into the Syrian civil war.

The rally, organized by State Representative Paul Wesselhoft, a conservative Republican from Moore, and Nathaniel Batchelder, liberal director of the Oklahoma Peace House, was unlike any political rally anyone can recall ever seeing in Oklahoma. Included in both the crowd and the speakers were a "diverse political group," as former Republican State Representative Rex Duncan (and present district attorney in Pawnee and Osage counties) and former state Democratic Party Vice-Chairman Ben Odom said (with Odom calling it "an interesting mix of folks").

The interesting mix at the rally included conservative Republicans, liberal Democrats, and libertarians. In what could be called an understatement, Odom said, "You've had people working together that normally don't work together."

First speaker was Wesselhoft, a Persian Gulf War veteran, who said he was neither a pacifist nor an isolationist, but with regards to Syria he classified himself as a "non-interventionist."

Wesselhoft insisted that the United States has "no political or moral obligation to intervene in another nation's civil war." Yet, as Wesselhoft explained, "Your government has supplied rebels with arms." He blamed both the Democrat president and Republicans like John McCain and Marco Rubio for the push of America into the war. Wesselhoft warned that American involvement could lead to a "proxy war" with Russia, which he criticized as "very foolish."

"Our American troops are exhausted," Wesselhoft said, pointing out that many of our soldiers have been deployed into war zones three or four times, leading to the high divorce rate among military personnel. Wesselhoft concluded, "We have spilled enough blood in the desert sands. I say no more blood."

Co-organizer Nathaniel Batchelder was also pleased with the coalition. "I am a liberal, and I am delighted to be with you conservatives, moderates, and liberals to advocate together with one voice. NO WAR IN SYRIA."

Batchelder, a Viet Nam veteran, said that following that conflict, "Seventy-two percent of Americans believed it was a mistake." He told the throng that, "In my lifetime, the U.S. has drifted into military conflicts that have escalated to become costly and regrettable quagmires." He added, "Military action can become a tar baby from which it becomes very difficult to disengage."

"(O)ur treasury is depleted by war. Our military and We-the-People are exhausted by war," he added, saying "Syria must not be our next war."

Oklahoma Constitution Editor Steve Byas quoted the late Jack Edens, who once wrote a column in the Constitution, in which Edens argued for conservatism as a wise policy of "enlightened ignorance." Byas said that a true conservative is prudent, understanding that we simply do not have enough knowledge to run every person's life, either at home "or around the world." He called those always agitating for American involvement in wars, like John McCain or Lindsey Graham, as simply "masquerading" as conservatives.

Instead, Byas pointed to the long conservative tradition of non-intervention, citing such Old Right conservatives as Charles Lindberg, John Flynn, and Robert Taft, contrasting their position with the so-called Wise Men of the Kennedy and Johnson years, who agitated for war in southeast Asia, in order to make South Viet Nam a "showcase for democracy."

"Fast forward forty years," Byas continued. Calling them "stupid," for ignoring the lessons of history, Byas said that Bush had his own "Wise Men," like McCain and Bill Kristol. Byas suggested Kristol should "take the point" in some of the wars he wants to involve American soldiers in.

Representative Cory Williams, a Democrat from Stillwater, and the Assistant Minority Whip, opened his remarks by saying it is "not very often" that he and Paul Wesselhoft agree, and it is rare that he and the Editor of the Oklahoma Constitution "are on the same side."

Williams lamented that his seven-year-old kid may end up serving in any Syrian War, recalling that Vice President Dick Cheney said in 2001, that we might still be involved in Middle Eastern wars in 2014. At the time, Williams thought that was absurd, but noted we are almost there. He concluded by saying we should "care" about the troops, by bringing them home.

Jason Byas, leader of the Young Americans for Liberty at the University of Oklahoma, and a co-host of LibertyMinded.org, compared the situation in Syria with the Libyan intervention. There, Byas noted, Black Libyans were killed as "mercenaries" for Colonel Ghaddafi "just because of their skin color." While Ghaddafi was ruthless, so were the rebels that the U.S. government supported.

Byas said that it is theoretically possible that the rebels in Syria could bring "democratic government" like we have in the U.S., minus such things as the "domestic surveillance," but it is highly unlikely. He said it is, however, "absolutely certain innocent people will die" as a result of any U.S. intervention, adding that soldiers, whether Syrian or American would also die as a result of any American intervention, dismissing the thought that any war is "humane."

Senator Connie Johnson, a very liberal Democrat from Forest Park, surveyed the crowd and the speakers, and said it reminded her of the sayings, "the lions and the lambs," and that politics make strange "bed-fellows." She called for a change in the direction of the country, to find "alternatives to conflict."

Speaking next was Lukus Collins, the grass-roots coordinator of the 2012 Ron Paul for President campaign in Oklahoma. Calling himself a "hard-core libertarian," and a "Christian pacifist," Collins recounted how he has changed from a supporter of the Iraq War in 2003 to his present position.

Collins told the demonstrators, "We cannot separate liberty and peace," giving the example that as the "War on Terror" has led to repeated interventions abroad, we are losing our liberty at home, all justified by the needs of war.

He contended that those the U.S. government is proposing to support in Syria regularly persecute the Christian community, and other Muslim minorities, adding that, a result of our war in Iraq, the Christian community there is now "almost extinct."

Ben Odom said that he has been called a liberal by conservatives, and a conservative by liberals, so he was going to be the "voice of the flaming moderates."

"I'm a realist," Odom said, explaining that wars are fought for a purpose "beyond victory." He contended that very little chance exists that American involvement in the Syrian civil war would have a positive result for the United States. Either the regime will win, and then have our weapons we have given to the rebels, or the rebels will win and then be hostile to its neighbors, including Israel. Odom also raised the specter that U.S. involvement would lead to a military conflict with Russia, which is an ally of the Assad Regime.

The least likely scenario, in Odom's mind, is that the rebels win, love the United States, make peace with all its neighbors, and then install a western-style democracy.

Former Governor David Walters was unable to attend, but did send a message, read by Batchelder, urging the U.S. to avoid military involvement in Syria. Tom Cole, fourth district congressman, did not attend, but did send a note to Wesselhoft, calling for the U.S. to stay out of the Syrian civil war.

Attendees were urged to contact their members of Congress, urging them to support H.R. 2494, or S.R. 1201, identical resolutions in each house of Congress. The resolutions demand that President Obama not involve us in the Syrian civil war, without a vote of Congress.