Early Reaction: White House Found ‘Life Raft’ In Russia’s Syria Offer

[Capt. Obvious]

President Obama had to pull back on Syria. That's the initial reaction from Capitol Hill as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delayed a vote on authorization for military strikes in Syria and Obama signaled he was open to a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Multiple congressional aides conveyed that consenus to TPM on Monday evening, following a dramatic turn of events over the course of the day.

"I think this is the out the admininstration needs, to be honest, because the numbers aren't here in the House," a House Democratic aide told TPM.

...

The whip counts on a Syria resolution have been increasingly pessimistic for the White House. The consensus from Hill aides, Democrats and Republicans alike, is that the administration must have seen the writing on the wall.

“I think the White House thinks they found a life raft," a House Republican aide concurred to TPM. "It’s not clear yet if they are right about that.”

His brilliant plan all along haters

[Enrique]

1. this must be part of a plot

to turn people off Obama. I was reading this, it sounded good to me, it sounded like Obama is trying to avoid a war.

Then I see "haters" and my image of Obama changes to that of a guy surrounded by the most obnoxious sycophants anyone ever heard of. Of course that's not rational so I dismiss it, but that's the effect this crap has on me.

[JoePhilly]

2. Its fun watching the prepetually disgruntled go crazy ...

Obama was going to invade Syria and create a 2nd Iraq, they said.

He was uninterested in a diplomatic solution, they claimed.

The attacks would begin around Labor day, they predicted.

After initial attacks, a quagmire would follow, they cried.

Obama wanted a war, and he was simultaneously trapped, they screamed.

There was no shortage of flaming hair.

And now, a diplomatic solution appears more and more likely.

And its driving the perpetually disgruntled, right and left, crazy.

How dare President Obama ruin everything. This was going to "taint" his legacy, cast a "shadow" over his Presidency. Vindicate Bush. Now, they can't believe what's actually happening.

This may turn into a win-win-win.

Oh well ... tomorrow's another day ... and a new outrage is always just over the horizon.

[morningfog]

4. It isn't driving me crazy. If this works and we avoid

the mistake of entering the Syrian civil war, I will be relieved.

I don't really care who takes credit. But, there remains a disconnect between what has been the stated, and shifting, objective and this potential solution. This plan is good for the goal of degrading the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which was the only goal I supported.

This plan does nothing for the stated goals of punishment, tipping the balance or ousting Assad. To be clear, I do not support those objectives, but those have been the rallying call. I guess those will be shelved for another day.

I am also waiting to breathe a full sigh of relief until something is signed and weapons are being moved and destroyed.

[JoePhilly]

9. Wasn't this going to "taint" Obama's Presidency?

Or cast a "shadow" over it?

Wasn't it you who said such things?

Last week, the hair on fire crowd claimed the strikes were about "vanity", and nothing more.

Now, any deal that doesn't remove Assad from power, something the potential strikes were never supposed to cause, isn't really enough.

You guys are hilarious.

First you guys claim Obama is doing too much ... now you want to claim he's doing too little.

The goal of any potential strikes was always to prevent Assad from being able to use chemical weapons again. And it looks like this deal just might accomplish exactly that.

And if it happens, the hair on fire crowd, who predicted Libya would be a 2nd Iraq, and that Egypt would be a 2nd Iraq .... and who most recently predicted that Syria was going to be a 2nd Iraq, will have been wrong, again.

But hey, maybe the next thing that happens can be that often predicted 2nd Iraq, and THAT one will "taint" Obama's Presidency.

[reformist2]

11. I'm still not happy about Obama's claims that he could have acted alone...

Those notions need to be discredited.

[TwilightGardener]

3. The Obama administration prepared to airstrike Syria for chem weapon use, including a buildup

of naval forces and a resolution to go through Congress, and suddenly Putin and Assad become cooperative. That's pretty much the whole story. There may have been some behind-the-scenes diplomacy or horse trades, but ultimately the stick rather than the carrot (arming rebels + threat of force--including maybe or maybe not taking out Assad) seems to have been effective. We did the same thing last March and April with North Korea--built up forces in the Pacific beyond the usual exercises, pissed China and Russia off. No real mystery here, no "life raft".

[Skidmore]

5. Yes. Sometimes a thing is what it is.

No more, no less. It always amazes me that people who descry the fact that you can't sit a group of elected officials down in a chamber and get them to agree on anything believes that the greater world operates as some huge Machavellian borg.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Yep. Even The Guardian agrees with me:

"Amid the current relief, two points are worth stressing. First, though hardcore anti-interventionists will not be keen to admit it, this breakthrough – if that's what it proves to be – only came about because of the threat of US force. It will be very hard to pretend that Assad would have agreed to such a move under any other circumstances; Russia did not propose it until it suspected American missiles were on the way. For all the opposition Obama's threatened action has generated at home and abroad, that fact surely deserves to be recognised."

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/10/syria-gaffe-war-john-kerry?CMP=twt_fd

[cali]

6. and that is precisely what I said. it couldn't be more obvious

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023633141

[pipoman]

8. The thin skinned have an owie..

At Tue Sep 10, 2013, 12:03 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

Early Reaction: White House Found ‘Life Raft’ In Russia’s Syria Offer
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023635460

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS:

"haters" is disruptive

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Tue Sep 10, 2013, 12:19 PM, and the Jury voted 0-6 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Ah, the pot calling the kettle black alert. I vote let it stand with the following advice - if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Get a grip...cry babies abound..ffs
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: Dinging 'haters' in this context is too much of a stretch.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: What a waste of an alert.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: With the constant barage of explosive charges lobbed at Obama and the U.S. government the use of the word "hater" doesn't seem that far from the mark. Would the offended parties be better served if Capt. Obvious called them exaggerators? How about kooks?
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: This is from a media source and is not hateful.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the

[Capt. Obvious]

10. LOL!!!

I don't know what's funnier - the fact that jurors or the alerter didn't pick up the sarcasm.