That's not he's saying at all.
We were , in fact, humiliated in Syria, thanks to Obama's artless foreign policy. Assad played Obama and Kerry for fools and Putin collected the chips.
That was inarguably a diplomatic humiliation -- resulting in a loss of respect for America. Our influence is diminished because of it.
Assad played Obama and Kerry for fools and Putin collected the chips.
So do you think we should have bombed Syria? If not, then how have we been “humiliated”? By not getting into another stupid war? I think China would have been glad to see us tied down fighting in Syria. They’re also probably glad we invaded Iraq, Afghanistan and Lybia. Because all those wars have weakened us, easing the obstacles to China’s rise. Hanson supported all those wars, and a reasonable unbiased reader of his column would have to infer he’s upset that we haven’t gone to war against Assad as well.