The stupidity of the Hitler-of-the-Month-Club tactic
From the very start of this whole public relations fiasco there have beens hints or intimations (hintimations!) that the spectacular nerve gas barrage launched by Syrian Regime Forces (henceforth SRF) at rebel forces may have had a "rogue" element. May have been outside top-down policy. (The very first leaked signal-intel was about confusion in the chain of command.)
Obama has even said that we do not care whether Assad ordered the attack personally since his regime forces surely did, tacitly acknowledging the potential ambiguity. And Obama was right in that... but having acknowledged that nuance, that our objection to the attack by regime forces is an objection to the totality of the REGIME, why then try to make it about Assad's personal qualities? (!)
If Assad were a singular villain then killing him would solve everything, like dropping a house on the Wicked Witch of the East. But Assad is one player in a dynamic where an embattled regime is likely to resort more and more to whatever tactics they have, including nerve agents. If Assad died in his sleep tomorrow the situation in Syria would get worse, not better. Everyone knows that. The ruling Alywites would be just as keen on retaining power (and avoiding their potential extermination when their regime falls) and the rebels just as keen on gaining power for the many purposes, from the reasonable to the nefarious, that elements of the heterogeneous rebel side seek.
But instead we have had the 'hitler-of-the-month' club with Kerry, and others, babbling about the personal villainy of Assad as if we were talking about the FBI seeking to apprehend John Dillinger, rather than about intervening in a civil war where the whole world has very keen interests in the outcome.
Dumb. Clown. Show.
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