Allow me to take you back to 1898. Tensions are at a high between the US and Spain over Cuba. A rebellion has broken out over there, and Americans are appalled at the treatment of the ordinary citizen as Spain puts down the revolt. At some point an American naval vessel, the USS Maine docks in Havana. Shortly afterward it exploded and over 250 sailors were killed. The US press screamed for blood, blaming the Spaniards for the attack. The US declared war, we whooped the Spanish thoroughly, and to this day we still own Puerto Rico and Guantanamo Bay as a result.

But years later people returned to the issue of the Maine: Did Spain actually blow it up? It was, after all, a foreign military vessel in Spanish waters during a tense time. But logically it doesn't make any sense: Spain was willing to do almost anything to avoid going to war with the US because it knew it would lose. So why provoke a war? There are theories that the gunpowder in the ship spontaneously combusted -- that model of battleship had its gunpowder stored in an unfortunate place that could easily heat it up -- and that the rebels themselves were the perpetrators because they wanted the US to help and defeat the Spanish.

The Maine keeps coming to mind when I look at Syria now. Two weeks ago there was another gas attack. If you may recall, we entered Syria years ago because Obama was pissed about the last one, accusing Syrian President Assad of attacking his own people. Sure, it seems pretty obvious that the Syrian government did the last one -- there are reports of planes dropping bombs and suddenly people couldn't breathe -- but it doesn't make any sense. Assad and the Syrian government know the world is watching now. Why suddenly do another gas attack, especially since it didn't bring any sort of major tactical advantage?

When I sift through the evidence, it seems pretty obvious that Syria did it. Both sides admit that the government was conducting an airstrike in the area. It's sarin gas, and there's no way that would come from an ammunition depot (which is what Russia is claiming). But why? Why not just bomb them like we've been doing this whole time? Why use gas, which you know will piss everyone off? The only conclusion I can think is Assad wants to claim the West is making a giant conspiracy against him to garner support, but it's such a weird way to do that.

Goddamn, Syria is a mess.