Saturday, August 31, 2013

Today Obama Made the World a Much More Dangerous Place

President Obama has delayed what had been considered to be an imminent strike on the al-Assad regime in order to punish it for using chemical weapons on its own civilian citizens. The President abruptly announced Saturday that he will seek congressional approval before launching any military action against Syria. Obama had said Friday that he had decided the United States should take military action and that he believed he had "the authority to carry out sich a military action without specific congressional authorization." But his latest decision pushes back any action against al-Assad until the week of 9 September when Congress is scheduled to return from its summer vacation. The President's decision carries enormous risks to his and America's credibility, which he has argued is on the line. Obama long ago said the use of chemical weapons was a "red line" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would not be allowed to cross with impunity. British Prime Minister David Cameron suffered a humiliating defeat when the House of Commons refused to support his call for military action against Syria. Today's developments are a stunning turnaround in a crisis in which Obama has struggled to gain international support for a strike, while dozens of lawmakers at home urged him to seek their backing. Ordinary Americans are also unhappy with rhe President's stance in Syria. Eighty percent want President Obama to seek approval from Congress before deciding to launch a military attack on Syria, according to a new NBC News poll taken on Wednesday and Thursday this week. An overwhelming 79% of respondents - including nearly 70% of Democrats and 90% of Republicans - say Obama should be required to receive authority from Congress before taking any action against the Syrian regime for its suspected use of chemical weapons. The findings of the poll also reflect the sentiment on Capitol Hill where 140 legislators, including 21 Democrats, have signed a letter saying Obama would violate the Constitution by striking Syria without first getting authorization from Congress. The poll also found that 50% of Americans oppose the US taking military action compared with 42% who support it. Only 21% think taking action is in the national interest, while 33% disagree and 45% don’t know enough to have an opinion. Just 27% say that US military action will improve the situation for Syrian civilians, compared to 41% who say it won’t. At the same time, the public overwhelmingly disapproves of Obama’s handling of the situation in Syria - only 35% approve of the President’s actions. Meanwhile, reaction to Obama's surprise delay was swift and worldwide. In Syria, the al-Assad regime continues to blame rebels for the 21 August chemical attack, and has threatened retaliation if it is attacked. Syrian rebel leaders are obviously disappointed and called pn Obama to mount a more robust attack on al-Assad. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was appealing to a Nobel Peace laureate rather than to a President, urging Obama to reconsider. A group that monitors casualties in the Syrian civil war challenged the US to substantiate its claim that 1,429 died in the chemical attack, including more than 400 children. But, whether Obama was thinking about it or not, the new timetable gives time for UN inspectors to receive lab results from the samples they took during four days in Damascus, and to compile a final report. Republicans expressed satisfaction at Obama's decision, and challenged him to make his case to the public and lawmakers, by sharing his evidence that proves that American power should be used to punish al-Assad. The Israeli military disclosed it has deployed an "Iron Dome" missile defense battery in the Tel Aviv area to protect civilians from any possible missile attack from next-door Syria or any of its allies. Missile defenses were deployed in the northern part of the country several days ago, and large crowds have been gathering at gas mask-distribution centers to pick up protection kits. ~~~~~ Dear readers, today we have seen the face of perfectly incompetent US presidential leadership. Obama has said he has proof that it was al-Assad forces that launched the chemical attack. He has said this represents a national security threat to the United States. He has allowed his Secretary of State to put US credibility on the line over the chemical attack. He has said he has authority to act without cobgressional approval. But today, what can only be described as Obama's psychological incapacity to make decisions won the fight that is constantly waging inside the President. He will let Congress decide -- just as he left it to Congress to draft the Obamacare legislation and settle the debt ceiling crisis. Barack Obama is paralyzed by any need to make critical decisions. And that makes the world a very dangerous place.

7 comments:

  1. "If you never make a decision , you will never be responsible for a bad decision."

    There must be a named disorder for this inability of our President suffers from.

    If his resume is real and factual Obama would have had to make hard/simple/or just everyday decisions . As a Law Review Editor, as a
    state senator, as a community organizer in Chicago, as a husband, as a father! As a citizen of the world.

    Are we witness to something much larger here than what shows. How can we continue with a leader at the helm that CAN NOT make a decision. And who has been doing for him the past 5 years

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  2. I wonder if the people who voted for Obama realize what they've done!!!

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  3. A limited strike against Syria might convince the Assad regime not to use chemical weapons again, but it won't change the balance of power in Syria's civil war or bring about President Obama's stated goal of regime change.

    Syria's President Bashar Assad has behind him Russia's veto at the United Nations, Iran's military backing, Hezbollah's foreign fighters and a rebel adversary infiltrated by Islamist groups the United States worries about arming.

    Breaking up this morass will likely take more than the cruise-missile strike Obama is considering.

    The threats to our interests have only gotten worse, and our inaction has been quite harmful to our interests.

    There's no reason to think those consequences won't continue to worsen, and yet you don't see any momentum toward any kind of effective action by the United States and our allies to do anything about it.

    Assad has used all kinds of weapons, chemical and cluster bombs, during massacres in Syria.

    There is nothing that can stop the regime from doing that except military intervention. It is not the best way forward but there is nothing else after all that has happened, I believe.

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  4. Even in the midst of this bloody civil war, the rebels have taken the time and the effort to massacre entire Christian villages. Why is Barack Obama so obsessed with helping such monsters? There is no good outcome in Syria. The Assad regime is absolutely horrible and the rebels are even worse.

    It isn't as if it is even possible for the U.S. military to resolve the conflict that is going on in that country. At the core, the Syrian civil war is about Sunni Islam vs. Shia Islam. It is a conflict that goes back well over a thousand years.

    Assad is Shiite, but the majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been pouring billions of dollars into the conflict, because they would love to see the Assad regime eliminated and a Sunni government come to power in Syria. On the other side, Iran is absolutely determined to not allow that to happen.

    Saudi Arabia and Qatar have no problem with using Sunni terrorists (al-Qaeda) to achieve their political goals. And as a very important ally of the Saudis, the U.S. has been spending a lot of money to train and equip the "rebels" in Syria.

    Where is this all going and to who's benefit. I don't know. i am totally complicated by what Obama's announced actions will achieve.

    A NO BOOTS ON THE GROUND strike ( As Obama promised in his Rose garden address yesterday) will get NOTHING accomplished.

    Why? because they have already hidden the chemical weapons and still have 8 more days to move them again before Congress meets on this matter.

    And how do we MEASURE the effects of an Aerial strafing if we put NO FEET ON THE GROUND. This is a political promise never meant to be kept.

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    1. Tell us the truth Mr. President or tell us your going golfing again

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  5. Have we ever been entertained (except this is not entertainment at all) to this level of presidential indecision? I can't recall such a time.

    Obama is acting out on the live world stage his interpretation of the great "Abbot & Costello - Who's on First" comedy routine.

    Their routine was all about how the same word could be used is so many varied ways, and so confusing to the audience.

    If Syria was funny and Obama was a comedian this would be great stuff. It's not funny (people are dying fast) and he is President of the United States.

    Maybe as they say in baseball, Obama is trying to hit for the "cycle". That is getting a single hit, double, triple, and a home run in the same game.


    His Single - getting the Democratic nomination over Hillary in 2008

    His Double - winning the presidential election twice

    His Triple - More than tripling our national debt.

    His Home Run - losing at least 2 conflicts/wars and 1 very good ally country in the Middle East.

    Sometimes levity proves a point.

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  6. Thomas Sowell is a leading Economists and Author that writes from a conservative and libertarian leaning. he is credited with once uttering ... "There are no solutions; there are only trade-offs."

    That could be exactly what Obama is up against in Syria, Egypt, Libya and most other countries that are divided along the Shiite and Sunni sect lines.

    What does Obama have to use as a trade off if he gets us caught up in the middle of a Shiite-Sunni civil war - NOTHING. We bring nothing to the table theta would entice either side to allow us the opportunity to help factor a deal, a cease fire, even act as a moderator between the two sides.

    I have sat with tribes in the mountains/jungles of Asia and worked out deals/arrangements that increased the quality of life and safety of living arrangements. I was ALLOWED to do this based on my fairness and earned respect from both sides.

    This administration doesn't have either of those qualities in the Arab/Islamic world.

    Therefore our expressed concerns, wishes, desires, even our logic falls on deaf ears - and always will.

    Why is this so? It could be as simple as how the Shiite & Sunni worlds of Islam react to Obama and what they consider him to be.

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