In an interview with CNBC in 2013, former president Bill Clinton expressed what he thought was his administration’s biggest failure. It was not the failed attempt to reform our nation’s health care. It was not signing the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, nor was it the Lewinsky scandal. Clinton’s biggest regret was his administration’s failure to intervene in the Rwandan genocide. “If we’d gone in sooner, I believe we could have saved at least a third of the lives that were lost … it had an enduring impact on me.”

He probably knew and understood that as the world’s dominant superpower, the United States has a moral responsibility to respond when crimes against humanity are clearly occurring, no matter how far away. For a nation that prides itself on freedom, equality and liberty, nothing is more fundamental than ensuring all people have freedom in their own way.

Former president Barack Obama knew this moral imperative, and drew a “red line” in Syria that the use of chemical weapons would not be tolerated under any circumstances. When the Syrian military used chemical weapons to attack a rebel-held suburb, Obama asked Congress for permission to intervene as he attempted to convince the American people that intervention in Syria was not only justified, but necessary. Congress rejected the proposal. The failure of the Obama administration to intervene in Syria is often noted as its biggest foreign policy failure.

Then, on April 7, reports of another chemical weapons attack in Syria came out after about 75 people were killed with sarin and chlorine gas, presumably by the Syrian government. The United States, alongside France and the United Kingdom, responded a week later with a coordinated missile strike against multiple targets in Syria.

In a speech to the country following the attacks, President Donald Trump said, “It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.” He stressed that these attacks were strictly in response to the use of chemical weapons and meant to deter any world leader that the use of such weapons will not be tolerated.

Now, a disclaimer about myself; I consider myself a fairly liberal Democrat. I supported Obama throughout his presidency. I voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Illinois primary and for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election. I believe that Trump is a disgrace to the office he now holds, but I do not believe that he is the worst president in our nation’s history. Still, I am possibly the absolute last person who would approve of any action of the current administration.

However, in this one case, I must say that I support our intervention in Syria for the reasons laid out publicly by the Defense Department and the White House. How can the United States have any moral authority across the globe when discussing our most sacred values of freedom and liberty if we do not speak up for the victims of horrendous acts of violence such as this one? Two past presidents are still haunted by their inability to intervene on behalf of the human rights of innocent people around the world.

We live in a global society now, and the problems of nations on the other side of the world no longer stay there. What happens in a foreign country can very easily happen here. The suffering of civilians matters a great deal to us and is vital to our national security interests. We must not let our hatred and disdain for the Trump administration blind us to the injustice and suffering happening in Syria and our ability to do something about it. If we have any moral compass as a country, we must support this strike meant only to cripple the proliferation and use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad.

This is why when my fellow Democrats from across the country rally against this military intervention in Syria, I will not support it. I have served on the College Democrats executive board for the past year and have just been elected to serve again this upcoming school year, and I am a vocal opponent of the man in the Oval Office, which is why it pains me to go against my identity as a Democrat in this circumstance. While my party identity is important to me, what I believe is moral and right is much more important. I respect those who choose to march in protest of our intervention in Syria and I am encouraged by the increase in student activism after the 2016 election, but this time I cannot stand by my fellow students.

Eli Krule is a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law.