Debate: Is Humanitarian Intervention in Syria Justified?

David Swanson and Danny Postel debate whether the dire humanitarian situation in Syria justifies limited military intervention.

Danny Postel is Associate Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver. His books include Reading “Legitimation Crisis” in Tehran, The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future and The Syria Dilemma, which was named one of the best books of 2013 by The Progressive magazine. He blogs for Truthout, Critical Inquiry and the Huffington Post.

David Swanson’s books include: War Is A Lie (2010), When the World Outlawed War (2011), and The Military Industrial Complex at 50 (2012). He is the host of Talk Nation Radio. He has been a journalist, activist, organizer, educator, and agitator. Swanson helped plan the nonviolent occupation of Freedom Plaza in Washington DC in 2011. Swanson holds a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich’s 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. He blogs at https://davidswanson.org and https://warisacrime.org and works as Campaign Coordinator for the online activist organization https://rootsaction.org Swanson also works on the communications committee of Veterans For Peace, of which he is an associate (non-veteran) member. Swanson is Secretary of Peace in the Green Shadow Cabinet.