by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Citizen Journalist
For the past several weeks President Obama has struggled
over a decision on whether or not to interfere with the civil war in Syria. On the one hand he has had to deal with hawks
in Congress and other backseat drivers who have been pushing for serious involvement
in the conflict, and implying that his lack of haste was indicative of a lack
of spine. On the other hand, he
also had to factor in those pesky liberal Democrats who seldom get into a war
mode – as well as a growing group of isolationist Republicans.
Many of the nay-sayers sought to slow down the rush to get
involved by diverting the President into consulting with Congress, something
was once common practice in gearing up for military conflicts. (And
the Constitution gives Congress, and Congress alone, the power to
declare war.) If the President took us
into a conflict that morphed into a quagmire without consulting with Congress,
sanctimonious politicians could then sit back and point out that if he had
consulted with them, the results would have been different. They were able to demand a role in the
decision, secure in the knowledge that all Presidents are cowboys who would
never deign to share a decision that important with lowly congressmen.
The President was damned if he did – and damned if he
didn’t.
But then last Saturday in a burst of deviousness that
surprised almost everyone, President Obama announced that he would do what he
critics had requested and take his case for intervention to Congress. The President had deftly built a box that was big enough to entrap his critics. Now his problem was
their problem. Now their soaring
rhetoric had weight and really mattered.
Now they had to put up or shut up.
Isolationist Senator Rand Paul, no fan of the President’s,
was beside himself with rage. The
President, Senator Paul blurted forth, was abdicating his role as Commander in
Chief by deferring to Congress. How dare
he put some of the onus of war on that fine gaggle of statesmen.
John McCain, a senator with presidential delusions, and his
parrot, Lindsey Graham, both started squawking that President Obama should have
acted much sooner and more forcefully.
President McCain would have never pussy-footed around and gone to Congress for permission to get involved in
another country’s business.
A whole host of Congress creatures who have made careers
off of marginalizing the President and questioning his right to hold that
office were suddenly faced with a dilemma.
Should they appear weak while also turning their backs on the
military-industrial complex that keeps their wallet’s flush – or should they
jump on the war wagon and thereby legitimize the President?
The members of Congress were damned if they did – and damned
if they didn’t.
1 comment:
I don't understand anything about Obama and his position on Syria.
By establishing his "red line," he not only told Syria what would cause America to get involved, he also told the rebels, or resistance or whatever you want to call them.
So ... Ever since Hezbollah sent fighters into Syria, Assad has been winning the war. Why on Earth would he use chemical weapons when that's the only thing that would bring Cruise missiles his way?
Using chemical weapons is what the opposition would do as a last-gasp try to get the US to intervene.
I don't believe for a minute that those chemical weapons came from the Syrian government. And we've all seen plenty of recent wars where our government's anaylsis of the situation was fatally flawed.
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