The U.S. policy on aid to Syria is tilting dangerously in the direction of military support. There are many who believe that the situation in Syria should be treated similar to the regime overthrow in Libya. It has become increasingly normal to see media outlets using the ‘cookie cutter’ method in their analysis of countries within Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.

“Oh, these countries contain Muslims and it’s hot there, they must be the same.”

These countries are not identical, as seen in the United States war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. For many years, the two countries were militarily approached in a similar way and we are seeing how that is turning out. Almost 12 years of fighting in Afghanistan, and an Iraq that is in shambles, are examples of why these conflicts should not be viewed with a cookie cutter eye piece.

Recently, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at a joint press conference at Doha’s al-Wajba Palace with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani. Kerry stated that he believes that weapons are reaching Syrian rebels, and that the United States supports such efforts. He also said that the U.S. had yet to and will not directly send weapons to the Syrian rebels.