President Obama. Reuters
Obama and Syria: Stumbling Toward Damascus -- Joe Klein, Time
The President’s uneven Syria response has damaged his office and weakened the nation. It’s time for one more pivot
On the eve of the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Barack Obama made the strongest possible case for the use of force against Bashar Assad’s Syrian regime. But it wasn’t a very strong case. Indeed, it was built on a false premise: “We can stop children from being gassed to death,” he said, after he summoned grisly images of kids writhing and foaming at the mouth and then dying on hospital floors. Does he really think we can do that with a limited military strike—or the rather tenuous course of diplomacy now being pursued? We might not be able to do it even if we sent in 250,000 troops and got rid of Assad. The gas could be transferred to terrorists, most likely Hizballah, before we would find all or even most of it. And that is the essence of the policy problem Obama has been wrestling with on Syria: when you explore the possibilities for intervention, any vaguely plausible action quickly reaches a dead end.
Read more ....
Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
From Cairo to Geneva, Obama steps back from Mideast -- David Rohde, Reuters
Chemical weapons deal changes Syrian equation: Our view -- USA editorial
New Syria Agreement Is a Big Victory. For Assad. -- Jeffrey Goldberg, Bloomberg
Russia Wants Seat Back at Mideast Table -- Steven Hurst, AP
Syria Could Still Blow Up in Putin's Face -- Shashank Joshi, Daily Telegraph
The United States' Islamist Allies of Convenience -- Brahma Chellaney, Moscow Times
The Elites Stumble on Syria -- Lee Bright, American Thinker
Two-State Illusion -- ian S. Lustick, New York Times
Sudden succession in Qatar -- S. Rob Sobhani, Washington Times
North Korea: To Talk or To Provoke? -- Duyeon Kim, The Diplomat
North Korea's Chemical Shop of Horrors -- J. Berkshire Miller, National Interest
Has The Insurgency In Egypt Already Begun? -- Sheera Frenkel, Buzz Feed
German voters should re-elect Angela Merkel as their chancellor—and Europe’s leader -- The Economist
Neither Putin nor Obama get it -- Gary Bauer, Washington Times
NSA, other government agencies should be more transparent -- Washington Post editorial
