President Barack Obama is in way over his head on Syria and is looking more incompetent by the day. Back in August of last year, he laid out a clear message to Bashar al-Assad that the use of chemical weapons against his own people or by others involved in the bloody civil war is a “red line” that “would change [his] equation,” basically threatening military intervention.
Just so there’s no confusion, here’s video of those comments:
But now, he’s trying to walk back those comments. During a press conference in Sweden, where he was trying to convince that country’s government to back planned strikes against Syria, President Obama said he didn’t set a “red line” and tried to spin his administration’s chest puffing by putting pressure on Congress.
“First of all, I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line. The world set a red line when governments representing 98 percent of the world’s population said the use of chemical weapons are abhorrent and passed a treaty forbidding their use even when countries are engaged in war,” President Obama told Steve Holland of Reuters.
“Congress set a red line when it ratified that treaty. Congress set a red line when it indicated that in a piece of legislation titled the Syria Accountability Act that some of the horrendous thing that are happening on the ground there need to be answered for,” he continued. “And so, when I said, in a press conference, that my calculus about what’s happening in Syria would be altered by the use of chemical weapons, which the overwhelming consensus of humanity says is wrong, that wasn’t something I just kind of made up. I didn’t pluck it out of thin air.”
He also insisted that his credibility isn’t on the line if Congress fails to pass a resolution authorizing his administration to carry out air strikes against Assad.
“Point number two, my credibility is not on the line,” said President Obama. “The international community’s credibility is on the line. And America and Congress’ credibility is on the line because we give lip service to the notion that these international norms are important.”
President Obama should have never made the “red line” comment, something he’s learning now. He tried to talk tough and realizes that there isn’t much support from the American people or their elected representatives in Congress, especially given that there is no proof that Assad ordered the attack.
The fact of the matter is that President Obama’s credibility is on the line, and he’s put the United States’ credibility on the line.
While there is no denying that Assad is a brutal dictator, ensuring that President Obama’s credibility (or lack thereof) remains in tact is no reason to justify going to war. Moreover, tough talk toward foreign countries should be reserved for, you know, actual threats to the United States, not perceived boogeymen who do not in any way represent a real threat to our security.