For the past few years, news of Syria and its civil war flitted in and out of the headlines. Sometimes I read the news; sometimes I felt too depressed about the situation to read. But this past month, the conflict went from an internal, civil war in one country to a potential global war, with Russia lining up on one side and the US lining up on the other. As a fan of history, the situation reminds me of Europe before World War I. We have groups of allies on separate sides of a conflict, each waiting for the other side to make a move. Only now, the use of chemical weapons takes the role of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. Which makes me wonder - is this it? Will we blindly ignore history and go in, guns blazing? Russia already sent two warships to the Mediterranean Sea and Iran stated its intention to help out should the United States or the UN choose to retaliate against Syria with military force. And I don't think we want the American military in Syria anywa