Posted on 09/02/2013 9:23:34 PM PDT by Kaslin
The grossly obese Syrian officer was coming in the door of the King Khalid Military City exchange while I was coming out. I saw instantly that this was no soldier; this was a thug, a threat only to the unarmed civilians that are his kind’s prey. My eyes fell downward from his cruel face to the piece of flair gracing his olive green fatigues.
“Nice Assad button,” I sneered. Real warriors don’t wear pictures of dictators on their uniform. He glared back at me with his dark, rat eyes, not understanding my words but fully appreciating my contempt. Though Syria was a putative coalition partner, I knew I was staring at an enemy.
Not much has changed since Operation Desert Storm. The Syrian regime’s “soldiers” are still just punks fit only to oppress the defenseless, unable to even hold their own against a ragged band of barely-armed insurgents. But like the vast majority of Americans, I have grave concerns about attacking them.
The President was right to belatedly call for a vote of Congress. Unlike many people who I greatly respect, the Constitution’s carefully-written text appears to me to leave only the power to react to sudden threats with the president. By investing the power to declare war in the Congress, the Constitution places the decision to enter wars of choice squarely with the people’s representatives. As a veteran, I also understand the importance to the troops of knowing that they have voted to support you.
The President must now tell us why we should make the choice for war. And he needs to do it personally by addressing the nation before a joint session of Congress.
There can be no dodging this responsibility, no clever attempts to secure credit in case of success while shifting the blame in case of failure. We are talking about war, and the President is the Commander-In-Chief. As the commander, he – and only he – is solely responsible for everything the military does and does not do.
The toxic atmosphere of suspicion engendered by the President’s radical liberal governing style has left him no well of trust from which to draw. Sadly, but not without cause, the first unspoken thoughts that arose when the President reversed course were that this was some sort of trick designed to saddle his political opponents with the blame for a policy that was already in tatters. That was a natural consequence of five years of political choices by the Administration – when support is suddenly required, don’t expect to instantly receive it from the people you and your mainstream media pals have spent half a decade demonizing.
The Administration is full of smart people, but what it needs are wise people who understand something about human nature. Scorched earth politics burn away the relationships and trust one will need to lean on after he unilaterally draws a red line and then finds himself needing support from his opponents when the enemy steps across.
But that cannot be helped now – we are where we are, and that is on the brink of yet another war. If the President truly believes this is the right course of action, he must literally step up to the podium and place his credibility behind it. He must personally take on the responsibility for this war.
There can be no voting present. Like George W. Bush, the President himself must ask the Congress to go to war over an Arab dictator’s weapons of mass destruction. And he must, alone, bear the responsibility for the consequences.
He must answer the questions that naturally arise from his request. What form will this war take? How long will it last? What is the end state this war seeks to achieve?
These questions are basic queries that any strategist would ask. That we have no answers yet raises serious questions in and of itself.
Assad’s gang of murderers are scum, and they fully deserve whatever we might do to them. They used chemical weapons against civilians, a ghastly crime which justifies whatever penalty we choose to impose. That is not the point.
The point is whether chastising these degenerates is in our national interest. How will doing so be to the advantage of the United States of America?
That is the only standard by which we must measure our strategy. Sarin gas is horrific. So are bombs and bullets and bayonets, and their innocent victims are just as dead. We cannot punish every dictator who butchers his own people because if we tried to do so we would be doing nothing else.
Mr. President, how will it support American interests to attack Syria? This is not about our revulsion at brutality. It is about how much treasure and how many lives – especially American lives – we will sacrifice in order to attain … what? What is the goal? What conditions do we seek to establish that make mothers weeping over their son’s and daughter’s caskets worthwhile?
Assad’s regime, through its support of terrorists in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere, have caused hundreds, even thousands of American deaths. If it was simply a matter of destroying the likes of the bloated Syrian officer I met in Saudi Arabia the answer would be clear: Take them out.
But it is not so simple. Our regime enemies are engaged in a death struggle with our al-Qaeda enemies. Do we want to tip the scales from one set of psychotic criminals toward another, possibly worse, set of psychotic criminals? Why shouldn’t we just sit back and watch as our sworn enemies kill each other?
Only the President can answer those questions. And he must do so, personally, alone on the podium, before a joint session of Congress and before the American people whose sons and daughters will fight this war.
Nice anecdotal evidence that there is at least one thug in the military. But has the writer met with the rebels? You know, the ones who kill Christians and burn their churches; the ones caught with sarin gas a few years ago; the members of the Muslim Brotherhood?
Did the writer further identify the soldier, or elaborate on his role in the government? Or did the writer just use that passage to convince us that Assad is bad? ...but not a word about the atrocities being committed by the rebels and their brotherhood handlers?
The Congress is like a dog who has been whipped for 5 years,afraid of its master,but the faithful dog will beg for mercy when the master throws him the bone trying to gain favor,only to be whipped again when the master gets bored with the the whimpering.
All things considered, it is very foolish to let Obama lead us into another war. The man is a one person wrecking crew.
He is not wise enough to lead. He will tie our troops hands behind their backs and get more people killed.
Common sense tells us to stop this war now. There will be nothing at all good come from it. It is a civil war and it will turn into a regional war installing the Brotherhood and Al Qaeda.
Noobie: You are projecting your third party whatever it is.
Exactly and like Sarah Palin said Let Allah sort it out
You notice already that the dems are coming out vocally against a war.
The GOP is being set up to take the fall. That is why Obama is using his GOP warmonger lackeys McCain and Graham to push this potential debacle.
The dems are not going to lose any elections by being for this war. They are going to let the GOP bury themselves with the voters.
Say “NO” to odumbo.
To Odumbo: Get your damn feet off of our desk, you’re not in the hood in Chicago.
It takes courage to do the right thing. With Obama at the helm, a disaster it will be if we enter into this.
I say vote NO war and if Obama insists on it by ordering it anyway, let him own the whole damn debacle.
By the way, most of the GOP are browbeaten cowards.
By the way, have Bill and Cankles Clinton chimed in yet?
I didn’t think so. They know this is toxic. LOL
unable to even hold their own against a ragged band of barely-armed insurgents.
Not barely armed and certainly not ragged band of anything. Many are foreign fighters from various terrorist groups. There are no GOOD GUYS to support in this war. Both sides hate us and both would willing kill us if they have the chance.
I agree 100% & more!!! Please contact your Congress Critters and tell three things, Deny Obama approval to attack Syria, Don’t fund Obamacare and Impeach Obama!!! And...flood McCain & Graham with cries to vote “NO”. The real problem is Obama....impeach him!!!
Please vote, immediately on the Drudge Report poll posted on the Drudge web site to deny Obama approval to attack Syria (92% have voted “No’ aleady, 334,000 people!!!
Please sign & endorse the Lee/Cruz petition to defund Obamacare right now....do it TODAY. It takes all but thirty seconds!!! The time for action, American citizena, all, is right now. (join 1,015,000 folks who have already signed the petition!!!)
- DrudgeReport.com
- www,dontfundobamacare
- www.dontfundit.com
And.....Freepers, etc., please post this information wherever & whenever you can!!! We, the People, can begin the active movement to either force Obama to resign or begin the process to impeach the failed, incompetent, Anti-American POTUS!!!
1. The race card expired on 1/20/09 and is non-renewable.
2. They should not have been there long enough to accumulate dirt, or for dirt to matter. TERM LIMITS, NOW AND FOREVER!
There you go again cutting me to the quick! Please stop! It hurts so bad, you OLD POSTIE.
Oh, and by the way. Just keep votin’ for them RINOS. That’s your choice. I have a right to choose, too.
Agree. Obama and this nation have lost one of the most important principles of the offense. The element of surprise. Our “clown in chief” has had a year or more to act in Syria. He has backed Morsiin Egypt and then helped topple Ghadaffi in Libya when neither had done zip to justify US might. Obama had many opportunities to back the sudents and others in Iran when they were ready to take on the mullahs. He did ZIP. Obozzo did zip when our embassy was attacked in Libya and our ambassador was sodomized and killed plus our other men were KIA. Embassies are considered US soil. He does zip about real attacks on us. Zero has had years to blow up the Syrian AF, etc. He has played golf and taken vacation after vacation on our dime. Now that he feels his needs to punish those who do not obey his sorry word/rules, and;he wants to use our military. HELL NO.
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