More discussion on the Great Syrian Debate

Peter Wehner; Barack Obama’s Staggering Incompetence  "Senior administration officials describing Obama’s about-face Saturday offered a portrait of a president who began to wrestle with his own decision – at first internally, then confiding his views to his chief of staff, and finally summoning his aides for an evening session in the Oval Office to say he’d had a change of heart.

"In light of all this, it’s worth posing a few questions:"....

What he does see is a political (and geopolitical) disaster in the making. And so what is emerging is what comes most naturally to Mr. Obama: Blame shifting and blame sharing.

Voting "present", in other words.  

Barack Obama's pusillanimous bumbling brings powerfully to mind Winston Churchill's condemnation of the Baldwin government in 1936: "So they go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent." The President's staggering incompetence is, to me, the most cogent argument against striking Syria. We may as well have Bradley Manning in the Oval Office.

From the comments to this article.

By the way, does anyone remember this from Letterman? Letterman Writer Boasts of Discrediting McCain, Obama 'Too Competent' to Joke About

"Scheft insisted the only reason the comedy shows don't make fun of President Barack Obama is because he's “a little too damn competent and we ain't used to that.” (emphasis in the original)

Anyway, back to the original subject:

.cracked.com

Iran plans retaliation if US bombs Syria  "But the kind of retaliation detailed in this Wall Street Journal article can be seen as escalating beyond anyone's ability to control:"  Full article here.

How big will Obama lose on Syria resolution in the House?  "This has the makings of an old fashioned hide beating."

House Whip Count Shows Syria Resolution in Deep Trouble  "If Obama fails, it will have been a disaster 4 years in the making. His arrogance, his inability to work effectively and consult with Congress, his sneering condescension toward his opponents, and a glaring lack of leadership have all combined to set him up for a bi-partisan fall on Syria."
(Just making sure you saw this one)

Charles Krauthammer; Unserious Commander-in-Chief   ...."Assad has to go, says Obama, and then lifts not a finger for two years. Obama lays down a red line, and then ignores it. Shamed finally by a massive poison-gas attack, he sends Kerry to make an impassioned case for righteous and urgent retaliation — and the very next day, Obama undermines everything by declaring an indefinite timeout to seek congressional approval."....

From France: The American Paradox in Syria   "Finally, to explain this weakening of America’s influence in the Middle East, there is the Obama factor...."

From Russia: Being Barack Obama "It is much more reasonable to assume that Obama’s caution and his concept of “leading from behind” are not the marks of a new foreign policy, but an attempt to cover up a complete lack of strategy."  Dmitry Drobnitsky

From Syria:  America’s Calculation Errors   "Fighters have come from all around the world — mercenaries, criminals, bandits, drug dealers, al-Qaida members, former offenders and thieves."

From the military blog, Blackfive:  Unicorns, Rainbows, Lollipops and Puppies   "Wasn't it awesome when the Anti-war Left actually had the courage of their convictions to protest both LBJ and Nixon instead of just protesting a Republican president who went to war in a Middle Eastern country based upon a brutal dictator suppressing his own people, using and possessing chemical weapons, using them on innocent people, using "hard intelligence" about WMD and terrorism as justification and getting approval from Congress and making his case to the American people."

Oh, yeah; remember those antiwar " human shields" who went to Iraq to protect Iraqis from the evil American bombing? 

What red line? I didn't make no stinkin' red line!

Chip Bok   "During a press conference on August 20 President Obama said, “a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.”

"Yesterday in Stockholm, he said,  “I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line.”
"He didn’t build that red line. Somebody else made that happen.".....

Who ya gonna believe; me or your lyin' ears?

Blame-shifting

Everything you need to know about Syria’s chemical weapons

Washington Post  "The Obama administration’s case for striking Syria hinges on the question of chemical weapons. The Syrian government allegedly used nerve gas on civilians, and that violates long-standing norms. So, the White House argues, the regime needs to be punished.

That’s the short version. But let’s step back and unpack this for a moment. Why, exactly, are chemical weapons so horrible? Where did Syria get its weapons? And what is Bashar al-Assad’s regime suspected of doing? Here’s a primer:.....

"Just how solid is the intelligence that the Syrian government actually used chemical weapons?
"Most of the details are still classified, so it’s hard for the public to know. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out the broad brushstrokes on Tuesday:"....

"Is there reason to doubt the Syrian government used chemical weapons?
"One note of skepticism has come from William R. Polk, who served on the State Department’s Policy Planning staff during the Kennedy years. ”Assad had much to lose and his enemies had much to gain [from the use of chemical weapons],” wrote Polk. “That conclusion does not prove who did it, but it should give us pause to find conclusive evidence which we do not now have.”

Historical footage of carrier ops in the Pacific during WWII.

 www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=9dR3h2HdnBQ

 

Hat tip to Val Brose; Santa Maria, CA

The pilots trained with the help of films like this: 

Aircraft Carrier Landings - 1946 - Navy Training Cartoon

Safety training film evidently aimed at young naval aviators. Among other things, this film stresses the proper approach angle for pilots to catch the wire with their ...

Internet search challenge for you:

Open the Google search page and type in "Obama blames" to see what comes up.
Then go to Bing and type those same words.
Hat tip to Jaker  at Yahoo Answers

http://restore-dc-catholicism.blogspot.com/ 

In case you had been wondering after the Boston bombing manhunt: Keeping Your Family Safe During a Terrorist Attack

Noisy Room   "A series of studies conducted by researchers at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness show that while 72% of Americans anticipate future terror attacks, fewer than 50% of us have a family emergency plan in place. It is not likely that any of us will forget the images of the families who were affected during the Boston bombing, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, or the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater shooting."
....
The Seven Signs of Terrorism
"Fearing future terrorist attacks does not mean that people have to live in fear every day. There are several steps people may take to help prepare and protect their families. One such action is to become familiar with the Seven Signs of Terrorism, developed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York, that have been adopted by State Police across the country as an educational tool."

Image via HomelandSecurity.ms.gov

Videos Implicate Syrian Opposition In Chemical Attacks, BUT...(UPDATE)

Remember, what matters most is that we do not lose Jordan to the Islamists. Jordan is friendly to Israel; to lose them to radical Islam will be to hem Israel in completely by nations sworn to destroy them.

Sad to say, those nations will be aided and abetted by leftists in the US such as Code Pink and (name "liberal", "progressive" "anti-war" faction here)..

(Screenshot of Saudi chemical bags labeled in Arabic and English)

 

JAWA  "Walid Shoebat writes:

Recent news of a chemical weapons attack in Syria smacks of desperation. The question comes down to who is most desperate right now, the Assad regime or the Muslim Brotherhood rebels? Consider that since June, Assad's forces have been winning.

According to a CBS News report from last month, victories for the rebels had become "increasingly rare" and that the Muslim Brotherhood-backed opposition fighters were sustaining "some of their heaviest losses" near Damascus.

The New York Times echoed this sentiment, even saying that before gaining the upper hand, concerns were that Assad would use chemical weapons; he did not 

.
In fact, even before Assad's forces gained the momentum, a UN official reportedly found evidence of rebels using chemical weapons but no evidence Assad's regime did.

 

More.

UN has testimony showing Syrian rebels used sarin gas  

"UN human rights investigators say they have gathered testimony from casualties of Syria's civil war and medical staff indicating that rebel forces have used the nerve ..."

But consider this update:

Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say

"Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they're certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime -- and why the U.S. military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days."

Everything you need to know about Syria’s chemical weapons  "Why, exactly, are chemical weapons so horrible? Where did Syria get its weapons? And what is Bashar al-Assad’s regime suspected of doing? Here’s a primer:"

Do this Google search: Type  "evidence of syrian army use of gas"

Then with Bing: "evidence of syrian army use of gas"

NYT on Syrian Rebels: What an incredible smell you've discovered!

JAWA  It is a case of a plague on both their houses. The only thing that is essential is the security of Jordan and whatever it takes to get the Syrian refugees back into Syria. The longer this goes on, the more remote that becomes.

Rebels in Syria eagerly await the beheading of a Priest in June of this year

 

"File under: information the American public would like to have known before President Obama decided to go to war with Syria:

The moment the poem ended, the commander, known as “the Uncle,” fired a bullet into the back of the first prisoner’s head. His gunmen followed suit, promptly killing all the men at their feet.
This scene, documented in a video smuggled out of Syria a few days ago by a former rebel who grew disgusted by the killings, offers a dark insight into how many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.

Iran: Managing U.S. Military Action in Syria

STRATFOR

 

Summary

"Conventional wisdom says that a weakened Syria would undermine Iran's regional influence, but a U.S. military intervention in the country could actually benefit Tehran. The government there has devised a sophisticated strategy for responding to a U.S. attack. Of course, Tehran would activate its militant proxies in the region, including Hezbollah, in the event that the United States launches an attack, but it would also exploit Washington's visceral opposition to Sunni jihadist and Islamist groups to gain concessions elsewhere."

Analysis ....

...An unfriendly Syria could cut Tehran off from Hezbollah, its pre-eminent non-state Arab ally, and jeopardize the position of its Iraqi allies.

Obama struggles to convince Congress Syria isn’t about him  " The idea that Obama’s motives are political is taking hold on both the left and right, underscoring the challenge he faces in securing support for a risky military venture abroad."

....

"But some Republicans say the vote is about Obama and his foreign policy stand, whether he likes it or not.

"Asked about Obama’s remark that the “red line” wasn’t his creation, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) said the president was mistaken.

" 'He needs to go back and read his quote," Chambliss said."

On Barack Obama, Democrats, and their foreign policy

USA Today; Obama's inept foreign policy    "Our friends are avoiding us, our foes aren't afraid of us, and it's looking more and more like nobody in charge knows what they're doing. It's enough to make you look back fondly on the smooth, capable diplomacy of the Jimmy Carter era. Alas, we have over three years of this left. One can only hope that we, and the world, will not pay too high a price for the ineptitude at the top."

Boston Herald;  Crown O Clown in Chief...  "Who are the two happiest people in the world this week?
"Bashar Assad and Jimmy Carter.
"One week ago, Assad was a war criminal awaiting certain retaliation from the most powerful military force the world has ever known; and Jimmy Carter still owned the title “Worst President Ever."
"Not anymore."

Doug Patton; Obama may want a Middle East mess "I have come to the conclusion that ideology trumps inexperience. His ego is so massive, and his leftist beliefs so strong, that he is willing to throw our country under the big international bus."

Jonah Goldberg; Obama bumbles as Syria burns  ...."The headline in the Times of Israel says it well, "Obama Shows Netanyahu Israel is Truly Alone."....

American Thinker; Postponing World War III  "How much of a mess has Obama made of the Middle East? The following two maps tell the story, five years ago versus today."....

 

However, in his extreme cowardice it's possible that Obama, inadvertently and unintentionally, has made the right decision for a change.

Obama passes the buck, this time to the world

Obama blames 'the world' for his foolish red line ultimatum  "The dog didn't eat his homework, but Barack Obama's latest attempt in Sweden to blame somebody else for the mess he has gotten himself into is scarcely more plausible."

WSJ: Blurred Red Lines / Harry Truman, please call Obama.   "If a President wants to lose a vote in Congress, this is what he would say. Minimize his personal leadership responsibility, and tell the Members of Congress that they are responsible for whatever happens if they fail to pass his resolution, as well as for the results of any military action that Mr. Obama would conduct."

 

Ed Henry Challenges Obama On Syrian 'Red Line' And Blocking Testimony of Benghazi survivors  Obama talks it to death. But he is right about needing to know who the party is that used gas.

Legal Insurrection 

My credibility is not on the line — the international community’s credibility is on the 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.

 Pelosi has Obama's back, saying the red line was not drawn by Obama:
 

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President Obama Sends Support Message To Radical Muslim Brotherhood Front Group

JoshuaPundit 

 

"ISNA was an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial. Like CAIR, they had been raising money for Hamas, some of which was used to murder American citizens. Many of their top executives were scheduled to be convicted and sent to prison in what would have been an open and shut second trial which might even have resulted in the groups being outlawed - until Eric Holder and the Obama Department of Justice filed 'decline To prosecute' motions on all of the players back in 2011."