Obama and the Syria conundrum

W.G.Ewald

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There is no comparison between Obama and Putin. Obama is a smooth talking career politician, a sort of cross between an orator and a bureaucrat. Putin is a product of sheer power politics, he can chew and spit out thousands like Obama.
But Putin does not have a "body language expert", poor chap. To clearly dominate, he must have one. :)
 

W.G.Ewald

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Barack Obama, the 98-pound weakling - The Globe and Mail

Some red lines cannot be crossed, and gassing Syrian children is one of them. That's what Barack Obama told us Tuesday evening. "The images from this massacre are sickening," he said. "Men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath. A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk."
The moral imperative is clear, he argued. We cannot let dictators get away with this. On the other hand, the United States can't be expected to solve all the world's problems, either. Therefore, the way ahead is to outsource U.S. foreign policy on Syria to "¦ Vladimir Putin!
So much for the credibility of the world's only superpower. Mr. Obama's staff have been tweeting that this delaying tactic is an incredible display of smart diplomacy. But to most of us, it just makes him look gullible. The President has allowed himself to be hog-tied and hornswoggled by Lilliputians. He was determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past, when a blundering giant threw its weight around and only wound up showing the world how incompetent it is. But if there's one thing worse than being a blundering giant, it's being a 98-pound weakling.
 

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The Charade Can Go On — and On and On . . . | National Review Online
So far in the Syrian charade, Bashar Assad has won de facto permission to be a legitimate ruler negotiating with superpowers, while promising to kill thousands more by blowing them up, shelling them, and shooting them without "obscene" chemical weapons.

Vladimir Putin controls the tempo of the crisis. He now issues new initiatives, now delays for consultations and retrospection — as he steps up profitable arms shipments to the Syrians and Iranians. In short, he is in the short-term "saving" Obama from himself, while in the long term insidiously destroying presidential credibility, influence, and respect by the sheer force of his cunning and audacity, as Obama in terms of foreign influence curls up into a veritable fetal position and wishes it would all just go away.

So Obama for now is relieved. He can say that his saber-rattling stopped further use of WMDs and let others sort out the truth that 99 percent of the killing, past, present, and future, does not require the agency of chemical and biological weapons. He can sorta threaten Assad "to comply," boast about the U.S. "reserving the right to use force," promise support for the insurgents without really defining who they are, "consult" with Congress — and golf in peace.

The White House spin doctors and the usual crowd in the media can insist that only the threat of force brought Assad to the table, but will offer no answers about whether Assad is still supposed "to leave," or exactly who in the insurgency we prefer and help, or how long and under what conditions we are to negotiate to dismantle Assad's stockpiles (a truce to let U.N. inspectors — largely American and Russian? — drive U.N.-insignia Range Rovers about Syria with Assad's minders?). We will hear daily of "Iraq" and "Bush."
 

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Inside the White House's Head-Spinning Reversal on Chemical Weapons - WSJ.com

How the U.S. Stumbled Into an International Crisis and Then Stumbled Out of It

When President Barack Obama decided he wanted congressional approval to strike Syria, he received swift—and negative—responses from his staff. National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned he risked undermining his powers as commander in chief. Senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer pegged the chances of Congress balking at 40%. His defense secretary also raised concerns.

Mr. Obama took the gamble anyway and set aside the impending strikes to try to build domestic and international support for such action.

He found little of either. Congress's top leaders weren't informed of the switch until just an hour or so before Mr. Obama's Rose Garden announcement ...
Video at link.
 

W.G.Ewald

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I received this email from my congressional representative.

Dear Bill,

I really appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts with me concerning a potential United States military response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. After attending classified briefings, hearing testimony directly from Secretaries Kerry and Hagel and General Dempsey, and listening to the President's address to the nation on September 10th, I remain extremely skeptical that it is in our nation's best interest to pursue a military strike.

As a nation, we have long recognized that the use of chemical weapons is deplorable. This is something we can all agree on. My concern, and that of many Members of Congress and the American people, is whether or not the President has formulated a plan that would credibly end their use in Syria - and I am not convinced that he has such a plan.

Since the most recent reports came out of Syria detailing the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons, the President and his administration have said that striking Syria and getting involved in a brutal civil war is in our national interest. However, the President has failed to tell us exactly what these strikes would accomplish. Additionally, I am concerned that the President has not considered the potential repercussions of such an attack - potential retaliation by Russia, Iran, or Hezbollah. I do not think the administration has fully considered the larger picture, or really made the case for President Obama's foreign policy goals in the Middle East.

President Obama and his administration have spent several weeks trying to convince Members of Congress and the American people about the urgency and necessity of a vote on a military strike. But the President continues to give mixed messages - first saying that a strike on Syria was both necessary and urgent, and then saying that we should hold off. This is more of the same confused foreign policy we have come to expect from this administration, and I cannot support a strike which has no real plan or clear-cut goals.

As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I will be examining the volatile situation in Syria carefully and thoroughly, as factual information continues to come forth. Once again, I really appreciate you taking the time to contact me and I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind as the situation develops.



I always enjoy reading thoughtful letters from my constituents. If you prefer laptops to letters, I'll do my best to keep you updated through Twitter and Facebook, my website and e-newsletter. I will continue to count on you to be my extra set of eyes and ears in the 13th Congressional District – please keep in touch.
Sincerely,

George Holding
Member of Congress
 

W.G.Ewald

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Ron Radosh » American Leftists Journey to Syria in Support of Assad: The Strange Case of Ramsey Clark

Global Research, a division of International Answer, reported yesterday that former Attorney General Ramsey Clark (1967-69) is now in Syria, where he is leading a delegation in support of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Joining him on the trip is former six-term member of Congress from Atlanta, Georgia, the virulently pro-Arab and anti-Israel Cynthia McKinney. (Her father blamed the loss of her ongressional seat on the Jews, who, he claimed, "bought everybody.")

Also along for the trip were Dedon Kamathi of the All African People's Revolutionary Party and the left-wing Pacifica Radio, and Johnny Achi of Arab Americans for Syria.

They are sponsored by the revolutionary socialist group International Answer, which ran anti-war rallies during the Bush-era Iraq War. Organizer Sara Flounders, who wrote the report and is accompanying the group, reported: "If anything, support [in Syria] for the government is much stronger now."

Flounders and the group also praised the legion of gullible Western volunteers, who have flooded to Syria to willingly serve as human shields for Assad. They positioned themselves in areas they thought likely to be targeted by bombs. Calling the action "Over Our Dead Bodies," they formed an encampment in 50 tents in the Mout Qassioun area of Damascus. "Democracy," proclaimed organizer Ogarit Dandash, "will not come with American weapons."

...



Like Vladimir Putin, the Answer Coalition — a front group for a Trotskyist split known as the Workers World Party — has argued that the chemical warfare used in Syria came from rebel forces, not from Bashar al-Assad: "It seems clear that the Assad regime did not carry out this chemical attack," said WWP spokesman Caleb Maupin.
 

W.G.Ewald

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A new, lengthy report from The New York Times published in today's paper outlines the arduous process that the Obama administration went through to get to its current position on the conflict in Syria.

According to the report, the first mistake in Obama's deliberations was assuming that Assad's regime would fall as quickly as other governments had during the Arab Spring, such as those in Egypt and Libya. When Obama called for Assad to step down in August 2011 and made his infamous "red line" comment, the administration still had no clear idea of what its strategy should be. Instituting a no-fly zone would have been too arduous and the C.I.A. was pushing to covertly train rebels in Jordan.
New Report Reveals How Much Time Obama Wasted Debating Syria - Brian Feldman - The Atlantic Wire
 

W.G.Ewald

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Seymour Hersh Alleges Obama Administration Lied on Syria Gas Attack
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has dropped yet another bombshell allegation: President Obama wasn't honest with the American people when he blamed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a sarin-gas attack in that killed hundreds of civilians.

In early September, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had proof that the nerve-gas attack was made on Assad's orders. "We know the Assad regime was responsible," President Obama told the nation in an address days after this revelation, which he said pushed him over the "red line" in considering military intervention.

But in a long story published Sunday for the London Review of Books, Hersh — best known for his exposés on the cover-ups of the My Lai Massacre and of Abu Ghraib – said the administration "cherry-picked intelligence," citing conversations with intelligence and military officials.

@pmaitra
 
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