nyt today---obama is an idiot
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.
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.
Moving or using large quantities of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and “change my calculus,” the president declared in response to a question at a news conference, to the surprise of some of the advisers who had attended the weekend meetings and wondered where the “red line” came from. With such an evocative phrase, the president had defined his policy in a way some advisers wish they could take back.
“The idea was to put a chill into the Assad regime without actually trapping the president into any predetermined action,” said one senior official, who, like others, discussed the internal debate on the condition of anonymity. But “what the president said in August was unscripted,” another official said. Mr. Obama was thinking of a chemical attack that would cause mass fatalities, not relatively small-scale episodes like those now being investigated, except the “nuance got completely dropped.”
As a result, the president seems to be moving closer to providing lethal assistance to the Syrian rebels, even though he rejected such a policy just months ago. American officials have even discussed with European allies the prospect of airstrikes to take out Syrian air defenses, airplanes and missile delivery systems, if government use of chemical weapons is confirmed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/w...-chemical-weapons-puts-him-in-tough-spot.html
obama's "off the cuff" remark puts him "in a bind," and "as a result" us policy "seems to be moving closer to providing lethal assistance"
another "frenetic series of meetings" the saturday nite before susan-rice-sunday resulted in the state dept stripping all pertinent truth out of a cia advisory written up for the edification of the american people
it appears "frenetic series of meetings" is this white house's standard operating response to exigency
or so suggests the nyt
crossing the red line did not include "relatively small scale episodes" of SARIN GAS?
there are "relatively small scale" uses of SARIN?
relative to what?
syria, says nyt, is becoming "the most urgent foreign policy issue of his 2nd term"
it appears we can look forward to a lot more frenetic meetings
"after 2 years of ineffectual diplomacy," obama's "off the cuff" reference to his red line "underscores the improvisational nature of mr obama's approach"
in other words, what an idiot
"all the more striking for a president who relishes precision"
oh, which president is that?
you have to "worry about the broader damage to us credibility," advises the gray lady
if you wanna come across as responsible, that is
that would absolve this white house
as one senior staffer puts it: "if he drops sarin on his own people what's that got to do with us"
they forgot:
Into Libya: The birth of an Obama doctrine | The Economist
he was actually considering a pre emptive strike in august!
why not, he's taken the rest of the bush doctrine to extremes
Eric Holder: Drone Strike To Kill U.S. Citizen On American Soil Legal
so why, wonders the lady
how could such a deep deliberator do something so dumb?
he kinda confused it all with iran, she supposes
netanyahu's poster at the un
the white house, meanwhile, is trying to figure out why assad would go chemical
he's always been so "capable of rational thought"
indeed, "pro govt militias using knives and guns are capable of inflicting many times the deaths attributed to chemical weapons..."
"so far"
so obama ponders weaponizing the rebels
except "there is plenty of evidence that the opposition is becoming more, not less, radical over time"
all boxed in
cuzza an off the cuff cough
can you deny it?
what a dummy
embarrassed yet?