Elections Count

Let me suggest what we saw tonight in President Obama’s presentation on Syria. Our policy is episodic and incoherent.

To be sure he made a case that chemical weapons are abhorrent and were used on innocent civilians by the Assad regime. He laid out the case that Bashar Assad is a very bad man. Indeed, a war criminal (in my judgment) and someone who has violated international law.

But what was lacking in the presentation was a coherent approach to deal with all of this that can win the support of the American people and Congress.

To date, the Obama approach has been episodic, that is, one random step after another without a hint of unity of purpose. First there was his “red line” comment a year ago. This was followed by his more bellicose stance in the wake of the 21 August news that Syria used chemical agents on innocent civilians. Then came Secretary of State John Kerry’s thoughtless remarks characterizing future military operation as “a two-day operation, tinny winnie, whatever” all of which is an incomprehensible exposé of operational options that telegraphed to Syria and the rest of the world that even if Congress and our people supported a military response (which we don’t) we are not serious about it. And while he was in Sweden, we were treated to the President’s revisionism that HIS red line and HIS credibility weren’t at stake, it was YOU and ME. Then there was all the discussion around whether Congress would be involved, should be involved. And most recently there was Kerry’s inadvertent invitation to Russia, (otherwise known as blabber-mouth diplomacy) to broker a handover of Syria’s chemical weapons to some unidentified group (read Russia who will give them back when the “coast if clear”). This looks like the “Armature Hour” to me. 

All of this adds up to an episodic and incoherent approach and the President's presentation tonight corrected none of that. Frankly, I see no way the President can recover from this debacle. His credibility has been irreparably damaged at home and abroad. If there was ever a time for Congress to step up and get this mess back on a diplomatic track, it’s now. Sadly, I am not convinced they can either.

Bottom-line: Elections matter folks, they do.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/syria-tells-you-everything-you-need-to-know-about-barack-obama-20130910?mrefid=site_search

By:  Delegate Scott Lingamfelter