Dr Strangelove at the White House over Syria

Dr Strangelove at the White House over Syria

This would be com­i­cal if the sit­u­a­tion in Syria wasn’t so se­ri­ous. This re­port­ing, via the New York Times, shows the com­plete in­abil­ity to un­der­stand that Wash­ing­ton isn’t the ar­biter of what hap­pens in­side Syria. Nor should it be. This is in­ep­ti­tude framed as se­ri­ous pol­icy. Be­sides, there are count­less forces back­ing the “rebels” and they’re mostly dic­ta­tor­ships. Nowhere in the cal­cu­la­tions is a se­ri­ous ef­fort to­wards ne­go­ti­a­tions and a less mil­i­tarised en­vi­ron­ment:

This would be comical if the situation in Syria wasn’t so serious. This reporting, via the New York Times, shows the complete inability to understand that Washington isn’t the arbiter of what happens inside Syria. Nor should it be. This is ineptitude framed as serious policy. Besides, there are countless forces backing the “rebels” and they’re mostly dictatorships. Nowhere in the calculations is a serious effort towards negotiations and a less militarised environment:

Con­fronted with ev­i­dence that chem­i­cal weapons have been used in Syria, Pres­i­dent Obama now finds him­self in a geopo­lit­i­cal box, his cred­i­bil­ity at stake with frus­trat­ingly few good op­tions.

The ori­gins of this dilemma can be traced in large part to a week­end last Au­gust, when alarm­ing in­tel­li­gence re­ports sug­gested the be­sieged Syr­ian gov­ern­ment might be prepar­ing to use chem­i­cal weapons. After months of keep­ing a dis­tance from the con­flict, Mr. Obama felt he had to be­come more di­rectly en­gaged.

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This would be comical if the situation in Syria wasn’t so serious. This reporting, via the New York Times, shows the complete inability to understand that Washington isn’t the arbiter of what happens inside Syria. Nor should it be. This is ineptitude framed as serious policy. Besides, there are countless forces backing the “rebels” and they’re mostly dictatorships. Nowhere in the calculations is a serious effort towards negotiations and a less militarised environment:

Confronted with evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, President Obama now finds himself in a geopolitical box, his credibility at stake with frustratingly few good options.

The origins of this dilemma can be traced in large part to a weekend last August, when alarming intelligence reports suggested the besieged Syrian government might be preparing to use chemical weapons. After months of keeping a distance from the conflict, Mr. Obama felt he had to become more directly engaged.

In a frenetic series of meetings, the White House devised a 48-hour plan to deter President Bashar al-Assad of Syria by using intermediaries like Russia and Iran to send a message that one official summarized as, “Are you crazy?” But when Mr. Obama emerged to issue the public version of the warning, he went further than many aides realized he would.

This would be comical if the situation in Syria wasn’t so serious. This reporting, via the New York Times, shows the complete inability to understand that Washington isn’t the arbiter of what happens inside Syria. Nor should it be. This is ineptitude framed as serious policy. Besides, there are countless forces backing the “rebels” and they’re mostly dictatorships. Nowhere in the calculations is a serious effort towards negotiations and a less militarised environment:

Confronted with evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, President Obama now finds himself in a geopolitical box, his credibility at stake with frustratingly few good options.

The origins of this dilemma can be traced in large part to a weekend last August, when alarming intelligence reports suggested the besieged Syrian government might be preparing to use chemical weapons. After months of keeping a distance from the conflict, Mr. Obama felt he had to become more directly engaged.

In a frenetic series of meetings, the White House devised a 48-hour plan to deter President Bashar al-Assad of Syria by using intermediaries like Russia and Iran to send a message that one official summarized as, “Are you crazy?” But when Mr. Obama emerged to issue the public version of the warning, he went further than many aides realized he would.