General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 9% approval for bombing Syria = suicide for Dems in 2014 [View all]BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)Obama painted himself into a corner. He has to do something because he drew a "solid red line". The problem is that Syria didn't have to let loose with the chemicals. They did it because one of their backers (Russia or Iran) pushed them to do it. There is a lot of gaming going on here, with the potential for rapid escalation well beyond the borders of Syria.
It is easy to talk tough when you just look at the situation on the surface, as Obama obviously did. Not that he is coming face to face with the range of scenarios, he is surely having an "Oh shit -- what did I do?" moment. And the Brits are having that same realization now.
The worst part of this situation is that there really isn't ANY action that will improve matters. If we come in with overwhelming force to topple Assad, it probably just sets up a new hope for al Qaeda, and gives them control over all those chemicals.
If we just lob in a few Cruise missiles, that saves some face for Obama's blunder but it doesn't help anybody in Syria, and it creates a very real opportunity for that to be used by Iran and others as a trip wire to escalate. And as usual, Israel is sitting there ready to do a wildly disproportionate response if any of that escalation hits them.
But Obama may see this as all being worth it, because it get the NSA crimes off the front page.