George Will has a column in the Washington Post today under the headline: "Obama is Right on Syria". It is an amazing piece of work, but one which is fairly typical of a large group of pundits. Will starts by reviewing all of the missteps in president Obama's explanations of his Syrian policy. As Will puts it, Obama's statements are "less a policy than a large loophole masquerading as a policy." Ultimately, however, Will concludes that Obama is right to be cautious; America has to recognize the limits on our ability to accomplish certain goals. We need not do anything or even attempt anything at this time, or so says George Will.
The real truth, however, is that George Will has been in Washington too long. Like many of the other pundits, he has stopped writing about what is right or wrong. Now, the question for Will is whether America will recognize that it is really in decline, a power with little impact. Are we at the point where our rhetoric will be toned down to meet our diminished capacity? Will has bought into the prevailing liberal foreign policy assumptions.
These are not new views in Washington. Think back. How many years did we hear that America was not the policeman of the world? How many times were we told that America had to find a way to coexist with the Soviet Union? Who could forget the nuclear freeze movement that told us we needed to stop spending on nuclear weapons so that the Soviets would do the same? For decades, America somewhat accepted this storyline; we tried to defend against the Soviets, but we never really took them on. That is, however, until 1980 when Ronald Reagan won the presidency and changed the direction of American foreign policy. Instead of "accepting" the limitations on what we could accomplish, Reagan moved forward with a policy of offense against the Soviets rather than defense. At the same time, Margaret Thatcher made the same shift in the UK foreign policy. Eight years later, the Soviet Union crumbled.
So now George Will wants America to accept that there will be Sunni Moslems killing Shiite Moslems in Syria and vice versa. Will wants us to sit by while one side or the other uses sarin gas to kill thousands of civilians just because of their religious affiliations. Will wants America to recognize the limitations of American power to achieve anything here, so he wants us not even to try to do the right thing.
For many years, I wondered how the world let the Nazis kill millions upon millions of Jews and others during World War II. The common explanation was that the other nations and the USA in particular did not really know what was happening in Nazi Europe. I am not sure that this is entirely true, but it certainly is the official line. Well, let me be clear: WE KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SYRIA!!!!!!!
President Obama claims to care about people, but he does nothing to stop the killing of 80,000 people in Syria. Obama claims to be strongly opposed to the use of any weapon of mass destruction, but he then claims to lack sufficient details to take action when these weapons are used in Syria. Obama is not a leader. If he truly were a leader, Obama would go on the air and explain to America what is happening now in Syria. He would explain why having chemical weapons in the hands of the allies of Iran or the terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda is unacceptable. He would explain why we cannot wait for those weapons to be spead to other countries or other terror groups. He would explain that we need to act to destroy those weapons in Syria before they show up in the New York City subway system. But, I think I am wasting my efforts. Obama will never make that move, because Obama is not a leader. Obama has spent his entire term in office watching failures and blaming others for them. His goal is to avoid responsibility, not to take it on. Indeed, perhaps the best slogan for his re-election campaign last year would have been "Wasn't me."
So now Obama has the DC cognoscenti like Will in his corner. It doesn't change a thing. We have to remember that we are the people of the United States of America. We are citizens of the strongest country in the world. We are the country that has fought repeatedly in the cause of liberty and freedom. We are the folks who say, at least, that we want peace and freedom for everyone around the world. The "realists" like Will do not understand this. We must.
The real truth, however, is that George Will has been in Washington too long. Like many of the other pundits, he has stopped writing about what is right or wrong. Now, the question for Will is whether America will recognize that it is really in decline, a power with little impact. Are we at the point where our rhetoric will be toned down to meet our diminished capacity? Will has bought into the prevailing liberal foreign policy assumptions.
These are not new views in Washington. Think back. How many years did we hear that America was not the policeman of the world? How many times were we told that America had to find a way to coexist with the Soviet Union? Who could forget the nuclear freeze movement that told us we needed to stop spending on nuclear weapons so that the Soviets would do the same? For decades, America somewhat accepted this storyline; we tried to defend against the Soviets, but we never really took them on. That is, however, until 1980 when Ronald Reagan won the presidency and changed the direction of American foreign policy. Instead of "accepting" the limitations on what we could accomplish, Reagan moved forward with a policy of offense against the Soviets rather than defense. At the same time, Margaret Thatcher made the same shift in the UK foreign policy. Eight years later, the Soviet Union crumbled.
So now George Will wants America to accept that there will be Sunni Moslems killing Shiite Moslems in Syria and vice versa. Will wants us to sit by while one side or the other uses sarin gas to kill thousands of civilians just because of their religious affiliations. Will wants America to recognize the limitations of American power to achieve anything here, so he wants us not even to try to do the right thing.
For many years, I wondered how the world let the Nazis kill millions upon millions of Jews and others during World War II. The common explanation was that the other nations and the USA in particular did not really know what was happening in Nazi Europe. I am not sure that this is entirely true, but it certainly is the official line. Well, let me be clear: WE KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SYRIA!!!!!!!
President Obama claims to care about people, but he does nothing to stop the killing of 80,000 people in Syria. Obama claims to be strongly opposed to the use of any weapon of mass destruction, but he then claims to lack sufficient details to take action when these weapons are used in Syria. Obama is not a leader. If he truly were a leader, Obama would go on the air and explain to America what is happening now in Syria. He would explain why having chemical weapons in the hands of the allies of Iran or the terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda is unacceptable. He would explain why we cannot wait for those weapons to be spead to other countries or other terror groups. He would explain that we need to act to destroy those weapons in Syria before they show up in the New York City subway system. But, I think I am wasting my efforts. Obama will never make that move, because Obama is not a leader. Obama has spent his entire term in office watching failures and blaming others for them. His goal is to avoid responsibility, not to take it on. Indeed, perhaps the best slogan for his re-election campaign last year would have been "Wasn't me."
So now Obama has the DC cognoscenti like Will in his corner. It doesn't change a thing. We have to remember that we are the people of the United States of America. We are citizens of the strongest country in the world. We are the country that has fought repeatedly in the cause of liberty and freedom. We are the folks who say, at least, that we want peace and freedom for everyone around the world. The "realists" like Will do not understand this. We must.
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