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Replies to Msg. #836990
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 Msg. #  Subject Posted by    Board    Date   
14741 Re: President Barack Obama said Monday he would put plans for airstrikes against Syria on hold if Bashar Assad's regime were to turn over control of its chemical weapons.
   Hurrah! O appears to have done what I hoped he would. It's best... 		Cactus Flower   ALEA   16 Sep 2013
 1:13 AM
14677 Re: President Barack Obama said Monday he would put plans for airstrikes against Syria on hold if Bashar Assad's regime were to turn over control of its chemical weapons.
   That's not much of a departure CF. That's my hope as well. The only de... 		tkc   ALEA   10 Sep 2013
 8:09 PM
14674 Re: President Barack Obama said Monday he would put plans for airstrikes against Syria on hold if Bashar Assad's regime were to turn over control of its chemical weapons.
   The idea that Kerry accidently stumbled onto an idea which was then p... 		faul   ALEA   10 Sep 2013
 7:59 PM
14673 Re: President Barack Obama said Monday he would put plans for airstrikes against Syria on hold if Bashar Assad's regime were to turn over control of its chemical weapons.
   I think the US image of itself depends too much on needing to be first... 		Cactus Flower   ALEA   10 Sep 2013
 7:58 PM

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Re: President Barack Obama said Monday he would put plans for airstrikes against Syria on hold if Bashar Assad's regime were to turn over control of its chemical weapons.

By: Cactus Flower in ALEA
Tue, 10 Sep 13 7:42 PM
Msg. 14671 of 54959
(This msg. is a reply to 14670 by tkc)
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Ok, tkc. Here we part ways.

The thing that makes a Syrian strike worth doing is if it does something worthwhile for Syria.

This isn't about the US. Syria isn't an adjunct to the US' image of itself.

Far as I can tell, there is no value to a missile strike against Syria that helps with the Syrian crisis. Indeed, it will be seen by locals as yet another assertion of US power in a region which is clearly sick of it - witness Egypt.

But the US can win by seeming to be judicious. By seeming to care about human life. By seeming less than eager to use force.

A military strike does nothing except impress those people who define US strength as a military thing. And who don't notice that the expression of US power has actually decayed US influence for the last decade and more.

The US will gain enormously from adopting the accidental Kerry/Russian approach. Remove the chemical weapons. Then figure the proper legal action when the time comes. That is strength and leadership. Lobbing bombs from the Mediterranean while avoiding any risk to a ground force - that's not leadership. It sure isn't bravery. It's the worst sort of politics designed to save face because O made the mistake of drawing a pointless line.

It was his own mistake. He needs to swallow it. Putin has offered him a pathway.