Things got worse in Syria. I keep writing that sentence and yet I also seem to find reasons to write it again and again. Today's calamity is that there is now clear evidence that the Assad forces are using sarin gas in their fight against the rebels. Let's be clear and simple in expressing what this means: THE ASSAD FORCES ARE USING DEADLY CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN SYRIA AGAINST THE SYRIAN REBELS.
President Obama has said repeatedly that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a red line for the USA. That has now happened. The president's response so far seems to be to move the red line further back. America has not even condemned this chemical attack by the Assad forces in the Aleppo area. The silence, of course, is not surprising. Once the USA condemns the attack, it will have to deal with the problem. Obama seems to think that by not talking about the use of chemical weapons, he can pretend that it did not happen. BUT IT DID!!!
For two years, this day has been coming. Had the USA acted two years ago, Assad would have been long gone, there would be a good chance of a relatively moderate regime in Damascus, 70,000 people would not have been killed, over a million refugees would still be in their homes, and Iran and Hezbollah would be isolated without allies. It would have been a win, win, win, win, win, win situation. Instead, we got neglect from Washington. The same Obama who jumped into Libya when 500 civilians were threatened sat by while 75,000 were killed in Syria. Meanwhile, because the USA did nothing, the forces of al Qaeda were able to infiltrate and take over large chunks of the rebel alliance. We now have a choice in Syria between a murderous thug allied with Iran or a group with strong ties to al Qaeda. Twenty million Syrians are caught in the crossfire.
This has been the biggest failure of the Obama foreign policy.
President Obama has said repeatedly that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a red line for the USA. That has now happened. The president's response so far seems to be to move the red line further back. America has not even condemned this chemical attack by the Assad forces in the Aleppo area. The silence, of course, is not surprising. Once the USA condemns the attack, it will have to deal with the problem. Obama seems to think that by not talking about the use of chemical weapons, he can pretend that it did not happen. BUT IT DID!!!
For two years, this day has been coming. Had the USA acted two years ago, Assad would have been long gone, there would be a good chance of a relatively moderate regime in Damascus, 70,000 people would not have been killed, over a million refugees would still be in their homes, and Iran and Hezbollah would be isolated without allies. It would have been a win, win, win, win, win, win situation. Instead, we got neglect from Washington. The same Obama who jumped into Libya when 500 civilians were threatened sat by while 75,000 were killed in Syria. Meanwhile, because the USA did nothing, the forces of al Qaeda were able to infiltrate and take over large chunks of the rebel alliance. We now have a choice in Syria between a murderous thug allied with Iran or a group with strong ties to al Qaeda. Twenty million Syrians are caught in the crossfire.
This has been the biggest failure of the Obama foreign policy.
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