More discussion on the Syrian question

Charles Krauthammer: Unless he’s serious, vote no

Sen. Bob Corker: “What is it you’re seeking?”

        Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “I can’t     
        answer that, what we’re seeking.”

"We have a problem. The president proposes attacking Syria, and his top military officer cannot tell you the objective. Does the commander in chief know his own objective? Why, yes. “A shot across the bow,” explained Barack Obama.
"Now, a shot across the bow is a warning. Its purpose is to say: Cease and desist, or the next shot will sink you. But Obama has already told the world — and Bashar al-Assad in particular — that there will be no next shot."....

Cantor: America has a compelling national security interest  "Frankly, two years of mixed signals from the Obama administration, misplaced focus and a routine lack of outreach to members of Congress have fueled pessimism in this mission. I share that frustration. But it’s not just the president’s credibility that is on the line; it is America’s leadership in a troubled world that is in question."
I believe Rep. Cantor is saying the same thing as Mr. Krauthammer, but in a gentler tone.

CNN Exclusive: Videos show glimpse into evidence for Syria intervention  "While the videos are hard to watch, they do not prove who is responsible for the attack, nor do they provide an answer for whether military strikes are the correct course."
Each time I have linked to an argument purporting to say we should intervene, the article backs away from giving support to that course of action. TD

What are the odds of a U.S. strike against Syria? 15 key questions answered  "There are so many moving parts to this complicated story that it can become quite difficult to keep up.
"Let this Q and A bring you up to speed on the dizzying developments."

Amazing video claims to show rebels using chemical weapons

"This may well be propaganda as it came from  European Jewish Congress

"Alternatively, the rebels have admitted as much so who really knows?

"It should be very clear to anyone who follows this site that Muslims are indiscriminate inborn killers."

Anti-War Celebrities Call Out Barack Obama! It’s Getting Nasty!  "Then there was Joe Biden’s 2007 TV interview: “The president has no constitutional authority … to take this nation to war … unless we’re attacked or unless there is proof we are about to be attacked.  And if he does, if he does, I would move to impeach him.” "

Some soldiers embarrassed to be associated with the amateurism of the Obama administration

Team of nitwits scrutinized  "New York Times reporter Mark Landler scrutinizes the photos of Obama’s war council, as he calls it, deliberating over Syria in recent."

 

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.

 

Winston Churchill in 1936, on the feckless national leaders who sat idly while Hitler rearmed.

 

Victor Davis Hanson; If It Wasn't Syria, It Would Have Been Something Else

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE  "It is very possible that the president will not obtain a join authorization to bomb Syria; if he chooses to go ahead and attack anyway, Obama will incite a constitutional crisis—the first time in history that a president has decided to go to war against the declared wishes of Congress. The public and the courts will adjudicate the legality of that act, and it would be contentious.
"So the corner that Obama has painted himself into is now inescapable."....

 

His inclination is to damn straw men, blame others for his self-inflicted errors, and spike the ball when he should keep quiet and become modest (cf. the bin Laden raid). So in Syria we heard the same old, same old: A host of bad guys, here and abroad, wants to do nothing. Obama alone has the vision and moral compass to restore global and U.S. credibility through his eloquence; but the world disappointed him and is now at fault for establishing red lines that it won’t enforce: He came into the world to save the world, but the world rejected him.

Bob Woodward: The inside story of how Obama and Boehner negotiate

WaPo  "House Speaker John Boehner has promised “a whale of a fight.” Some Democrats are warning that the GOP could sink the economy. And so begins another budget showdown. How it ends — and whether the U.S. government can avoid a shutdown and a default — may hinge on whether the two principal combatants, Boehner and President Obama, can figure out a way to work together.
"Their history shows that may not be possible. Based on interviews with key White House and congressional aides, meeting notes, and budget documents, here is a detailed, often verbatim account of the two leaders’ negotiations and conversations last time — during the dramatic “fiscal cliff” face-off of late 2012."
Bob Woodward is an associate editor of The Washington Post and the author, most recently, of “The Price of Politics.” This essay is adapted from a new afterword to the book’s paperback edition, coming out this month.

Michelle Obama's Epic Eye Roll at John Boehner

The Blind Leading the Gullible…

http://liberallogic101.com/?p=2723

Ed Asner Explains Hollywood Silence on Obama, Syria: They 'Don't Want to Feel Anti-Black'

Hollywood Reporter   "Don't look for Iraq War-style protests, says the liberal activist, who -- like "M*A*S*H" star Mike Farrell -- opposes military action."

"In 2003, ahead of a U.S. attack on Iraq, a robust anti-war movement in Hollywood included a TV commercial starring Martin Sheen and Sean Penn visiting Baghdad. There were online petitions signed by Ed Asner; letters to President George W. Bush pleading for peace were signed by Matt Damon, Tim Robbins, Barbra Streisand and Alec Baldwin; former M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell...."

"The good news for President Barack Obama as he considers a military response against Syria for using chemical weapons against rebels is that he probably won't have to deal with a similar anti-war movement from Hollywood. But that's not because there isn't opposition."....

Case in point: Obama Mega-Donor Bill Maher Blames GOP Opposition To Syria On Racism…

Another sneaky Friday evening announcement: Obama hints he may abandon Syria strike

Obama hints he may abandon Syria strike   "But that surprising announcement to delay the strike was foreshadowed in prepared statements that he and his Secretary of State, John Kerry had made the day before, Friday.The Friday statements included many combative and emotional sections about the Syrian nerve gas attack killed more than 1,400 civilians in a rebel-held neighborhood.
....
"The response “will directly effect our role in the world and our interests in the world,” he said. “It is also about who we are — we are the United States of America, we are the country that has tried, not always successfully … to honor a set of universal values.' ”

The Red Lines Obama Chooses To Ignore…

Report: Obama “Vetoed” Israeli Strike On Iran In 2012…  " “Israel has the capability to destroy the Iranian nuclear program” and was prepared to do so, Eiland was quoted as saying in a private meeting earlier this month, according to the Israeli paper Mida.
"However, top White House officials “pressured” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel the attack on Iranian nuclear sites, according to Eiland."

'The Gettysburg Story' told with drone photography

" 'The Gettysburg Story' film dramatically tells the history of the greatest battle fought in the Western Hemisphere. Narrated by Stephen Lang (Avatar, Gettysburg) and directed by Jake Boritt, the stories of characters who experience the battle come alive through dynamic, innovative imagery that captures the historic battleground as you have never seen it before."
 

The film will be broadcast on Public Television in November, 2013 to correspond with the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

  

NEW GETTYSBURG PUBLIC TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY USES CUTTING EDGE FILMMAKING TECHNOLOGY TO TELL TIMELESS STORY   "Aerial Cinema
"To tell this story an array of innovative technology is being used including radio-controlled helicopters equipped with electronic gyro stabilization and mounted with high definition cameras. West Coast-based FreeFly Cinema, a pioneer in this rapidly evolving field, captured the battlefield in stunning clarity from never before seen vantage points. The high-resolution imagery captures battle sites from inches above the ground to 400 feet in the air. Aerial drones allowed the camera to follow the flow of battle over the exact ground men fought and died on 150 years ago. Footage was also shot with a full size Bell JetRanger helicopter and with a 5K Red Epic digital camera to capture the storied landscape in rich colors and unparalleled resolution."

Christian church fights to erect cross as pastor claims city officials fear Muslims ...in Mississippi!

Effingham, IL cross

Washington Times  "The pastor and some members of a Christian church in Brandon, Miss., say city officials won’t grant them their permit request for a massive cross to be built on their property because the city is afraid the symbol might offend Muslims."
....
"The tallest structure in the city is two stories,” said Mayor Butch Lee in Fox News. “The cross is 11 stories,” and city rules only allow that it could be 20 feet in height. The matter will head to the local aldermen for final decision, but the pastor isn’t optimistic. He thinks another agenda is at play.

Cross at Brandon Facebook page.

Oh Please: Mississippi Town Objects to Church’s Cross Over Fear It Might Offend Muslims "But Mayor Lee said the planning commission’s decision has nothing to do with Muslims or non-Christians. He also rejected accusations on social networking websites that the no-vote was an attack on Christians."

Christians must keep in mind that our Lord calls on us to not bring ridicule to the name of Christ and to submit to the governing authorities. Publishing the Tunnel Wall has been a bit out of my comfort zone for just this reason. I hasten to add that this blog is published not because I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, but sometimes in spite of that fact.
I only ask, were the founding fathers wrong to rebel against King George? In a government of the people, are Christians wrong to dissent?

FLASHBACK: Biden Accuses Romney Of Wanting “To Go To War In Syria”…

Weasel Zippers  "And yet in the end it’s Obama and Biden who are pushing us into a war nobody wants to get involved with."

 

Obama’s Global-Warming Folly; No, Mr. President, we don’t need a war on coal.

Charles Krauthammer  "The economy stagnates. Syria burns. Scandals lap at his feet. China and Russia mock him, even as a “29-year-old hacker” revealed his nation’s spy secrets to the world. How does President Obama respond? With a grandiloquent speech on climate change.

"Climate change? It lies at the very bottom of a list of Americans’ concerns (last of 21 — Pew poll). Which means that Obama’s declaration of unilateral American war on global warming, whatever the cost — and it will be heavy — is either highly visionary or hopelessly solipsistic. You decide:"....

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