John Kerry on Syria - Assignment Example

Teacher Invalid Argument A. We know that the Assad regime has the largest chemical weapons program in the entire Middle East. We know that the regime has used those weapons multiple times this year and has used them on a smaller scale, but still it has used them against its own people, including not very far from where last Wednesday’s attack happened. We know that the regime was specifically determined to rid the Damascus suburbs of the opposition, and it was frustrated that it hadn’t succeeded in doing so.B. The Assad regime has large chemical weapons then they have used it multiple times in smaller scale because they are determined to rid Damascus of the opposition.C. This argument is invalid because it does not necessarily follow that if Assad regime has a big chemical weapon stockpile, that they will automatically use it to rid Damascus of opposition.

Having a weapon does not equate to automatic use and we did not even know if Assad has full control of them because there may be generals under him who would surreptitiously use it without Assad knowing.2. Unsound argumentA. And we know what they did next. I personally called the Foreign Minister of Syria and I said to him, “If, as you say, your nation has nothing to hide, then let the United Nations in immediately and give the inspectors the unfettered access so they have the opportunity to tell your story.

” Instead, for four days they shelled the neighborhood in order to destroy evidence, bombarding block after block at a rate four times higher than they had over the previous 10 days. And when the UN inspectors finally gained access, that access, as we now know, was restricted and controlled.B. Syria has chemical weapons and they are hiding it. When they were asked by UN for an inspection, they bombed it to destroy its evidence. They bombed it because their bombing rate was four time higher than the previous 10 days.C. This argument is unsound because Kerry immediately assumed that Syria is hiding its chemical weapons and that they are bent on hiding it so as to bomb it after UN advised for inspection.

The certainty that they intend to hide their chemical weapons due to the increased rate of bombing is unsound. Increased rate of bombing can be caused by a multitude of factors and not just to hide it. It is also illogical to bomb their chemical weapons to hide them. Why not move and keep it somewhere else where no one can trace it?3. Invalid argumentA. In all of these things that I have listed, in all of these things that we know, all of them, the American intelligence community has high confidence, high confidence.

This is common sense. This is evidence. These are facts.B. The American intelligence community is confident that Assad regime has chemical weapons. And because the American intelligence community is confident, this can be taken as an objective fact.C. The argument is just flatly wrong. What the American intelligence community is confident about does not necessarily mean it is true. For it to be factual, there has to be concrete evidence not just confidence.