On Syria - why the rewrite?

[Drunken Irishman]

Didn't Republicans get in a tizzy because Obama suggested we use force there, so, the President put the ball in their court and CONGRESS, along with American allies, pushed back and pretty much said no? Or am I remembering this wrong?

[CJCRANE]

1. That was the best example of reverse psychology I've ever seen.

The Repubs (pundits, base and politicians) were screaming for Obama to attack Syria (after the chemical attack incident).

Then Obama put the ball in their court and Obama and Kerry ramped up the war rhetoric...and by a week later (after Fox figured out their talking points and marching orders), the Repubs and conservatives did a 180 and were screaming for him NOT to attack Syria.

[Cali_Democrat]

3. Yup. nt

[KoKo]

2. The military didn't want to do it...and British Parliament voted No...

then new information came out about Assad not using the poisoned gas...and then Putin got involved to work out a deal to get the WMD out of Syria and Obama fortunately called it off. Kerry & State were ready to go... but, Obama with influence from some influentials in the Military Brass, lack of support from British Parliament and Putin's behind the scenes work to get the WMD out managed kept us out of it over the protestations of the Neocons. It was brilliant coordination and the Right Wing can't get over it. They want to blame Obama for "backing out at the last minute" when in fact Obama did us a huge favor.

We can deal with ISIL better in Iraq because we have the authority from Maliki to be in there ....whereas bombing Syria to take out Assad would have meant us being aligned with ISIL and the country going into chaos like Libya.

Obama's walk back at the last minute was a courageous act...and that's why the RW is all over him. And, why Putin is being hit by the RW...and Ukraine was visited by Victoria Nuland and John McCain. The Neocons had to have a win after the playbook unraveled in Syria.

[karynnj]

10. Kerry and Obama wanted the removal of the chemical weapons --- and Putin did not

have any interest until there was a threat of an American attack.

Strange that Putin is still your hero.

[KoKo]

14. Kerry was pushing for Attack Syria...but, he's imprisoned by the Neocons

at State Department...inherited from Bush or Hillary's buddies.

I don't give Kerry credit for this. It was Military (the sane ones) Obama and Putin getting heads together to not have Syria turn into another Libya hanging around everyone's neck when Egypt started to implode.

Kerry was pushing up to the last minute that US was ready to go because..."We Know...We...Know...We...Know" as he was using that bellicose language and almost pounding his fist...about how "Red Line" had been crossed and carrying on like we'd never seen him do up until the last minute when Obama pulled the plug.

I give it to Obama & Putin for this. That State Dept. had to doublecross Putin with the Nuland/McCain and the Cookies and "Yats" was the "Pay Back" for crossing Neocons.

[karynnj]

15. Kerry was the lead US negotiator in Geneva and in last minute negotiations at the UN

You can ignore facts all you want.

[Vattel]

13. Obama got very lucky. He would have made a huge mistake

if not for the resistance he got from the military, the British Parliament, and Congress, and also the intelligence reports that temporarily clouded the issue of who was responsible for the Sarin. As you know, there is no evidence that Obama had no intention of bombing Syria and was simply bluffing so that Syria would give up its chemical weapons, but Obama loyalists don't need evidence if it makes Obama look good.

[4139]

4. Yes, republican Hillary Clinton fought feverishly for bombing Syria ...

... Sen. Warren helped lead a big bipartisan 'NO'!

[Cali_Democrat]

5. WTF?

Hillary wasn't SOS and Warren didn't really weigh in on it if I recall correctly.

The issue was that the House Republicans blocked it and now they're saying Obama is weak because he didn't bomb the hell out of Syria.

[4139]

6. Hillary worked the phones calling senators trying to line up support ...

And warren actually did fence-sit for a while before becoming a no

[Cali_Democrat]

7. Do you have a link to back up your assertion?

A link describing how Hillary "worked the phones" and tried to get Congress to authorize force?

This is the first I've heard of that.

[4139]

8. Sept 9, 2013: "Hillary Clinton calls Mark Pryor, Chuck Schumer on Syria"

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/hillary-clinton-syria-mark-pryor-chuck-schumer-96481.html

Also CNN:

Behind the scenes, Clinton worked the phones for Obama, who is trying to convince Congress to go along ...
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/09/politics/syria-clinton/

[Cali_Democrat]

9. Well you were right..

Thanks.

[karynnj]

11. In her book, she claims credit for persuading Obama to go to the SFRC and

speaks of influencing Ranking Member Corker. Incidentally, she takes credit for suggesting Obama (who had PUSHED the idea of getting rid of chemical weapons) to take that way out. (Note she gives almost no credit to Kerry. )

Yes, I read her book my favorite way - using the index in the back to see how she tells everything related to Kerry. No, I was not surprised or impressed - she even took most of the credit for persuading Kharzi, when every account written at the time credits Kerry.

[RobertEarl]

12. Seymour Hersch says:

DU link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5269585

Vattel posted:

Obama planned an attack but dumb luck saved him.

He planned an attack, but intelligence became cloudy, the Joint Chiefs balked at his plan, the public and Congress resisted, and then, ironically, asshole Putin saved the day with an offer to broker a deal with Assad.

Hersch: In the aftermath of the 21 August attack Obama ordered the Pentagon to draw up targets for bombing. Early in the process, the former intelligence official said, ‘the White House rejected 35 target sets provided by the joint chiefs of staff as being insufficiently “painful” to the Assad regime.’ . . . The new target list was meant to ‘completely eradicate any military capabilities Assad had’, the former intelligence official said. The core targets included electric power grids, oil and gas depots, all known logistic and weapons depots, all known command and control facilities, and all known military and intelligence buildings.

Britain and France were both to play a part. On 29 August, the day Parliament voted against Cameron’s bid to join the intervention, the Guardian reported that he had already ordered six RAF Typhoon fighter jets to be deployed to Cyprus . . .

By the last days of August the president had given the Joint Chiefs a fixed deadline for the launch. ‘H hour was to begin no later than Monday morning , a massive assault to neutralise Assad,’ the former intelligence official said. So it was a surprise to many when during a speech in the White House Rose Garden on 31 August Obama said that the attack would be put on hold, and he would turn to Congress and put it to a vote. . . .

Obama’s move for congressional approval quickly became a dead end. ‘Congress was not going to let this go by,’ the former intelligence official said. ‘Congress made it known that, unlike the authorisation for the Iraq war, there would be substantive hearings.’