This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Rep. Chris Stewart, your past and present statements on Syria are hard to reconcile without concluding that a disdain for the former president overcame your compassion for the over 1,400 Syrians gassed by Bashar al-Assad in 2013.

On Sept. 11, 2013, you wrote an article titled "Why military action in Syria is a bad idea." In it you say "the only targets [Barack Obama] could go after would be the airfields, transportation and command/control facilities, none of which deal with the destruction of chemical weapons." In a Sept. 13, 2013 interview on the Rod Arquette show, you called President Obama's plan to degrade Assad's ability to use chemical weapons "threading a needle that's been tossed in the air."

Fast forward to April 7, and your new thoughts on Syria: "While tonight's military action against Syria won't remove Assad from power nor solve the horrifying humanitarian disaster, destroying the airfield will damage Assad's ability to launch attacks against his own people. It also sends a very clear message that the U.S. will no longer tolerate Assad's use of chemical weapons against his own people."

Thinly veiled moral high ground does little to conceal your immoral politicization of a humanitarian crisis.

Diane Walker

Salt Lake City