If ever the United States had a chance to avert the massacre of 250,000 Syrians, the flight of millions of Syrian refugees and the rise of the Islamist butchers of ISIS, President Obama long ago missed the moment.
Five years have passed since he called for the ouster of Bashar Assad amid the fleeting optimism of the Arab Spring.
Three years have elapsed since Obama drew his infamous red line on the use of chemical weapons by Assad and then failed to enforce it — only to be rescued from utter humiliation by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
U.S. WEAKNESS GAVE RUSSIA COURAGE TO ACT IN SYRIA
Almost two years have gone by since Obama described ISIS, little known at the time, as a “jayvee” team of terrorists, wildly underestimating the threat posted by a group now in control of huge sections of Iraq and Syria.
And the world had just passed the one-year anniversary of Obama’s pledge to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS with the formation of a “broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat” through “a systematic campaign of airstrikes.”
Now, shortly after speaking directly with Obama, Putin — in an open show of disdain for the President of the United States as well as for international norms — has launched airstrikes in Syria.
As he did with a de facto invasion of Ukraine, Putin postures as having right behind his might. His lie that he seeks only to end ISIS’ barbaric run is a transparent insult to the world’s intelligence.
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He has only one goal — and that is to maintain the murderous Assad’s grip on power.
Simply by putting planes in the air, he may well have achieved one objective. Testifying before Congress last week, former Gen. David Petraeus said the U.S. should down Syrian jets if necessary to stop Assad from dropping indiscriminately lethal barrel bombs. Using that tactic now would verge on entering a proxy war against Russia.
From giving the U.S. only one hour’s notice — through low-level functionaries — that bombing was to begin, to targeting stronghold territory of anti-Assad rebels, not of ISIS, there’s been nothing subtle about Putin’s messaging. He’s creating the illusion that he’s just the tough guy to end the Syrian nightmare and relieve Europe of the refugee crisis.
Following Obama’s lead, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter applied diplo-logic in assessing the facts on the ground to conclude that Putin’s mission was “doomed to fail.” At his toughest, Carter said Putin was pouring gasoline on a fire.
Later, Secretary of State John Kerry met with the Russian foreign minister to convey once more that it is simply impossible for anyone — Putin and Assad included — to bomb his way to the subjugation of Syrians.
Officially, the U.S. says it would welcome Russia into the coalition conducting air strikes against ISIS and Al-Qaeda-related Islamist radicals in Syria. Surely, Obama & Co. do not seriously believe Putin would accept such an invitation, except, possibly, out of extreme desperation.
So, for now, the U.S. can only press on with Obama’s anti-ISIS campaign, weak as it is while Putin bombs away.
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