I don't know about you, but it doesn't exactly leave me with a feeling of confidence when John Kerry leads the charge to make Syria pay for allegedly attacking its own people with something akin to nerve gas.
-- British members of parliament received an open letter from the Syrian government Thursday, urging them not to take any military action against Syria, the press office for House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said.
-- The Syrian letter to British lawmakers compared the current situation to the march to war against Iraq a decade ago, and riffing on Shakespeare, saying: "If you bomb us, shall we not bleed?" It also says an attack on Syria would be illegal, and "would automatically strengthen our common enemy, Al Qaeda and its affiliates."
Can you really blame Britain for not wanting to get involved in another third world bar fight? After Dubya's storming of Iraq like some second rate John Wayne clone, I think that Britain is obviously the voice of reason here. There is nothing to be gained by joining President Barack Obama in his quest to stop every despot in every corner of the globe. I can see Obama now; bandana tied around his head; his red white and blue huey taking out disposable Syrian bad guys in the name of good old patriotism. When did America become Superman? When did it become the presidents job to fly around the planet looking for injustices to right? In case you haven't noticed, Mister President, Metropolis needs your attention. Cities are going bankrupt, the economy is moving like mud, and people are losing their homes. Yet, President Obama wants to fight another bully in another third world country.
-- Al-Assad's claim that rebels were behind the August 21 chemical attack is impossible, Obama said on "PBS NewsHour" Wednesday. "We do not believe that, given the delivery systems, using rockets, that the opposition could have carried out these attacks," Obama said. "We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out. And if that's so, then there need to be international consequences."
-- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who along with President George W. Bush helped send the U.S. military into action in Iraq and Afghanistan, told the Fox Business Network on Wednesday that the White House has yet to justify potential strikes in Syria.
These two quotes are interesting on two fronts. First, it always makes me laugh when I hear a former member of Dubya's inner circle throw around words like "justification." If Rumsfeld is alluding to attack on Syria being a case of political maneuvering, that's an even bigger laugh. Remember Rummy, it was your commander in chief who par laid one of America's darkest hours into a political panacea. Remember Rummy, you've played this game before and you should know that nothing is a better form of political amnesia that a heroic stand against a rogue despot half a world away. Still, I doubt that Obama can be as impulsive as old Dubya in terms of a fight. Obama is a diplomat at heart. To me, he seems like a man who would rather talk than fight. But who knows? Perhaps Obama is looking for a little amnesia to distract us from the disappointments that have permeated his run as commander in chief. I guess the question is this. When does America stop trying to solve every problem in every corner of the globe? If Syria did use nerve gas on its people, it's nothing new. This is what despots do. Is Obama going to attack India for turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed against women over there? Where does it end? As Martin Sheen said in The American President; "you fight the fights that need fighting." Are you listening Mister Obama?
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