THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

In Europe and in this country, are bound and determined to have themselves another little war in Syria.

Europe moved closer overnight to military intervention in Syria.

British Prime Minister David Cameron called Parliament back today to debate the situation in Syria. According to news reports, commercial pilots near Cyprus say they have seen British C-130s and radar images of small formations of fighter jets heading to Britain’s Akrotiri airbase, which is only about 150 miles from Syria. The moves appear to be preparation for what is as yet an undefined military response to alleged chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian civil war.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel spoke by phone with the defense ministers of France and the United Kingdom this morning. According to a Pentagon statement on the phone conversations, Hagel said the U.S. was ready "to respond to the outrageous chemical attacks" and that he "condemned the violence carried out by the Syrian regime and stated that the United States military is prepared for any contingency involving Syria."

A senior State Department official said a meeting scheduled in the Hague with a Russian delegation has been postponed because of consultations about "the appropriate response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21." But the official added: "As we’ve long made clear – and as the events of August 21 reinforce – it is imperative that we reach a comprehensive and durable political solution to the crisis in Syria. The United States remains fully invested in that process."

In Damascus Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Moallem said that if the U.S. attacked, his country would employ "all means available" to defend itself. He said the U.S. has "a history of lies" and likened its claims that Syria had used chemical weapons to the warnings a decade ago that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as a presage to the invasion of Iraq.

Syrian rebels leaders have allegedly been told to expect a western strike against the Assad Regime “within days.”

Those who are so eager to jump into another country's civil war might do well to consider Britain's measured response to our own civil war. Despite actual injury to the British economy and a number of close calls in an age of poor communication, the Brits never seriously considered military action on behalf of one side or the other.