But Obama had no choice, either. He couldn't bomb Syria because the Ayatollah forbade it.
The Number One Foreign Policy Goal of the Obama Administration was to rescue the Iranian Mullahcracy from nascent democracy by Iranian students and the young, secular middle class.
Repeal the sanctions, fund the regime, have Russia provide the uranium and the anti-aircraft missiles, provide a clear path for the Iranian Bomb and establish the Shia Crescent. Mission Accomplished.
(Secondary Foreign Policy Goals: Rescue Cuban Military Dictatorship, Gut our Military, Advance the Muslim Brotherhood and Strengthen Russia.
Obama's Number One Domestic Goal: Keeping the economy suppressed as a way to weaken America and put millions on government assistance. Other Domestic Goals: dissolve our borders, Fight a War on Cops, shred traditional marriage law and wreck healthcare for single payer--but I digress.)
Obama's Real Red Line in Syria was Whatever it Takes to Help the Russians Help the Mullahs. His "Degrade and Destroy" was mostly Delay and Employ. His Asian Pivot wasn't to China, but to Iran and it wasn't a pivot: it was all planned before he even took office. And continues to this day with his moles in the bureaucracy.
We call all that failure--but Obama calls it success. Judged by his own metrics, Obama was a stunning success. And thereby handed a world in flames to his successor.
As I said, Trump had no choice in Syria. It is America's vital interest that the use of Chemical Weapons be forbidden. We have treaties and the Geneva Conventions that may as well be torn up if not enforced.
And who is going to enforce them? The UN? Don't make me laugh. Like Spicer said, "If Adolph Hitler were alive today, he would probably be head of the UN Human Rights Commission." Kidding, Sean.
Was Trump supposed to have a long, public and partisan debate in Congress while Assad protected his weapons?
Stephen L. Carter: "George Washington fought the so-called Northwest Indian War to subdue the native people of Ohio. James Monroe sent forces to conquer Amelia Island, off Florida. James Buchanan sent Marines to halt the civil war in Nicaragua. In 1893, U.S. forces overthrew the government of Hawaii, although apparently without White House permission. Still, the overthrow stuck. On the eve of World War I, Woodrow Wilson ordered the Marines into Mexico. Half a century later Ronald Reagan invaded Grenada. Most prominently, in the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John Kennedy took the nation to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. ... For better or worse, however, it’s been our practice for a very long time. Clinging to the long-dead notion that Congress must first declare war might be comforting, but it has nothing to do with reality."
It's been bandied about that Obama went to Congress about Syrian WMDs and they wouldn't co-operate.
Obama went to Congress to prevent action, not facilitate it. His proposal had more caveats, limitations, exclusions and restrictions than a United Boarding Pass. It actually subtracted from America's existing options. Sadly, there were less than ten thousand deaths at that point--now a half million.
While Obama was constrained by his Mullahs' plans for Syria (where there are now 100,000 Iranian troops) and the need for Russia's help in the Iran Deal, President Trump is free to act in America's interest. He is degrading and destroying ISIS, not America. His Red Line appears to have stopped Syria's use of human insecticide. And President Trump has already gotten more cooperation from the Chinese in eight days than Obama did in eight years--the Chinese have pivoted towards him.
Recall that the Chinese wouldn't even give Obama his stairs for Air Force One. Putin despised Obama, too; nobody wants to be lectured by their doormat.
But they listen and respond to real leadership--President Trump's leadership. Even when they hate it, they have to take it seriously.
To quote Sean Spicer and Billy Joel: "That hasn't happened for The Longest Time."
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| Completely gratuitous Christie Brinkley photo; you're welcome! |
