November 16, 2015

“How do we move forward? in Syria”

By Glenn
Topics:
France
Iraq
Syria
US Foreign Policy
“Strangely today you are touting that Obama has been wanting to go to war when mostly he has said that he is going to get us out of it. How about we move on and not just continue the political spin? “
 
Actually, what I have said is President Obama has continued to wage war and has asked for Congressional authority to expand the war. Conservatives have denied that he is using the military, ie ignoring Syria, and demand that he do more, but refuse to authorize him to do more.
 
How do we move forward? As I’ve said many time, we should evaluate the situation using the Powell Doctrine. No one, including the President, has answered all of these questions.
 
Is a vital national security interest threatened?
Do we have a clear attainable objective?
Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?
Have all other non-violent policy means been fully exhausted?
Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement?
Have the consequences of our action been fully considered?
Is the action supported by the American people?
Do we have genuine broad international support?
 
With the attack in Paris, we know are closer to answering some.
 
Is a vital national security interest threatened? Yes, a NATO ally has been attacked. US National interests are now at stake.
 
Do we have a clear attainable objective? No. Defeat “radical Islam”? Eliminate the territorial control of Daesh? What/who takes its place? Assad? American/Coalition forces? How many Americans for 15 million Syrians? Will we be welcomed as liberators? Should the Kurds get their own state? How will the Iraqis, Iranians and our NATO allies the Turks respond to that?
 
Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed? No
 
Have all other non-violent policy means been fully exhausted? No. Keeping Assad in place would be the quickest path forward, but that would mean giving “Putin a victory”. Is that an acceptable trade off?
 
Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement? No. This would requiring a complete restructuring of the Middle East.  There would be not guarantee of success.
 
Have the consequences of our action been fully considered? No.
 
Is the action supported by the American people? No. the polling is 50/50 right now, but it is always stronger before rather than after an invasion.  There must be a real Declaration of War to hold politicians accountable.  Taxes must go up to pay for the war.
 
Do we have genuine broad international support? Yes, the President right now is coordinating an international response. This didn’t exist before Paris.  We also need to acknowledge that the Iranians are our allies in the fight, and that the Saudi’s are our enemies.
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