That Poison Gas Tripwire in Syria
Steven R. Berryman
from The Tentacle - March 25th 2013
Imperialism, self-righteousness, nation building, and
hypocrisy are alive and well, and hosted by 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue yet again.
A pre-emptive statement by the president on use of chemical weapons in Syria is
coming back to haunt him.
Then
the tripwire got tripped, and an obvious gas-attack unfolded on cable
networks.
President Barack Obama had earlier signaled quite
clearly that his “line in the sand” for American military intervention (we don’t
call them wars any more) would be use of a weapon of mass destruction, or WMD.
Hearken back to President George W. Bush and Iraq much?
Conjure
up that vision of Gen. Colin Powell speaking at the United Nations to justify
that conquest.
For
those who have lost track, the declared U.S. national interest in Syria is to
oust strong-man Bashar al-Assad, that nation’s equivalent to Saddam Hussein or
Muammar Gaddafi, for subjugating his own
people. Presumably this will also lead to another Islamic Republic. Some
goal.
The
problem became, however, that level 2 poison gas used in an attack on a
checkpoint in Khan al-Assal, Syria, was home grown CL-17 chlorine, according to
a report in the U.K.s The
Telegraph, and was used by forces we support against
Assad!
This
“enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing gets way out of whack when you end up
frozen in policy morality, confronted by the reality that you just woke up in
bed with elements of the Taliban, who are creatively using improvised poison gas
from a home-made missile.
Video
footage that I witnessed almost in real-time last Wednesday via CNN showed recovery efforts of the
wounded and dead from the incident, an attack on a Syrian Army checkpoint.
Twenty-six fatalities were reported, others mortally harmed. The wounded were
clutching their chests and clearly could not breathe normally.
White
House reaction was quick, strong, and direct – and very reminiscent of the
aftermath of the Benghazi (Libya) terrorist murder of our ambassador on the
anniversary of 911 – “We have no direct evidence that this was a poison gas
attack, but we do intend to investigate it.”
Or,
were we just not prepared to admit it and deal with it?
Now, if
we continue to allow our operatives to hand over one portion of the Middle East
from one bad actor to yet another bad actor, why can’t we get them to at least
play fair?
Don’t
they know that the United Nations might get pissed off?
When we
allow ourselves to get into the undergarments of so many others foreign affairs
(from their perspective, national affairs) …we will inevitably get into trouble
with the other remaining super-powers, and remnants thereof.
Much of
President Obama’s foreign policy is now driving the strange bedfellows of “Red”
China and Russia to kiss and make goo goo eyes at each other. They may even
approve a natural gas pipeline between them at this rate, as our former enemy
from the Soviet days fuels our greatest economic competitor, allowing for their
strategic advantage in exports.
We
continue to play checkers as our global competition plays the higher-level game
of chess. It seems American foreign policy lasts but one administration in
length, while others have 10- and 20-year plans. They may yet bury
us.
And so
the tripwire is tripped in Syria, and there is no response. It’s far worse than
if we had drawn no line in the sand at all; we appear toothless, especially as
the Department of Defense is decimated by the sequester…Navy warships cancel
drug interdictions and patrol with half broken motors.
This
“world’s policeman” thing has got to give; it’s too expensive and produces
unpredictable results anyway.
Evidence is: We’re not bragging on “the Arab Spring” so
much anymore.
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