One thing that president Obama likes to point to as a major success is the agreement under which Syria gave up its chemical weapons. You remember that agreement, don't you? Obama announced that use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime against the rebels would be a "red line" for the USA. We would not tolerate such use. Of course, the Assad regime then proceeded to use chemical weapons 15 times with no American response. In fact, the Obama response was that it had no evidence to confirm chemical weapons use by Assad's forces. Numerous other countries were able to conclude from the available evidence that the chemical weapons had been used, but Obama could not since that would have required a response by the USA. Then the Assad forces launched a massive chemical attack and the rebels took video of the aftermath. More than 1000 people (nearly all civilians) died in the attack. As the video was shown on TV screens around the world, even president Obama could not deny the reality. He started towards some sort of retaliation against the Assad regime.
Of course, there was no retaliation. Obama backed down and tried to punt the issue to Congress. At that point, the Russians saw a way to secure Assad against American action. President Putin proposed a deal under which Assad would "give up" his chemical weapons in exchange for there being a guarantee of no American action against Assad. Obama grabbed the deal which let him off the hook. Syria then supposedly complied with the pact by turning over some chemical weapons to US forces for destruction. This is the deal that Obama touts as a success.
Well now we have another part of this success. Various groups are reporting that the Assad forces are again using chemical weapons against civilians as part of the ongoing civil war. The latest attack killed six people near Idlib. It is important to remember that this is not the first attack by Assad's forces, just the latest. It is also important that secretary of state John Kerry just said on Saturday (after these attacks) the America was ready to negotiate with Assad. Once again, Obama is backing down.
America needs a leader. Sadly, we do not have one.
Of course, there was no retaliation. Obama backed down and tried to punt the issue to Congress. At that point, the Russians saw a way to secure Assad against American action. President Putin proposed a deal under which Assad would "give up" his chemical weapons in exchange for there being a guarantee of no American action against Assad. Obama grabbed the deal which let him off the hook. Syria then supposedly complied with the pact by turning over some chemical weapons to US forces for destruction. This is the deal that Obama touts as a success.
Well now we have another part of this success. Various groups are reporting that the Assad forces are again using chemical weapons against civilians as part of the ongoing civil war. The latest attack killed six people near Idlib. It is important to remember that this is not the first attack by Assad's forces, just the latest. It is also important that secretary of state John Kerry just said on Saturday (after these attacks) the America was ready to negotiate with Assad. Once again, Obama is backing down.
America needs a leader. Sadly, we do not have one.
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