Analysis: Obama Growing Isolated On Syria As Support Wanes -- Reuters
(Reuters) - White House efforts to convince the U.S. Congress to back military action against Syria are not only failing, they seem to be stiffening the opposition.
That was the assessment on Sunday, not of an opponent but of an early and ardent Republican supporter of Obama's plan for attacking Syria, the influential Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, Mike Rogers.
Rogers told CBS's "Face the Nation" the White House had made a "confusing mess" of the Syria issue. Now, he said, "I'm skeptical myself."
Congress will be in session on Monday for the first time since the August recess. Debate on Syria could begin in the full Senate this week, with voting as early as Wednesday. The House of Representatives could take up the issue later this week or next.
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My Comment: There is no groundswell of support in the U.S. for military action against Syria. The reason why is simple .... the case has not been made by the administration that what is happening in Syria's civil war is a national security threat against the U.S.. Couple this with past U.S. experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan .... support to get involved in another conflict .... a sectarian civil war at that .... is even less appealing to the American public.
My advice to President Obama on what to do next is simple .... follow the lead of President Reagan. In 1984 President Reagan made the decision to withdraw forces from Lebanon after the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut .... and while it gave Syria at the time a strategic victory, it also gave the U.S. time to regroup and re-evaluate on what to do next. Almost 30 years later the U.S. now finds itself the need to regroup and re-evaluate on what to do next .... hence climbing down from this threat to launch a military strike against Syria is probably the best policy to pursue right now.
Update: Even the AP is skeptical on White House claims of Assad's culpability in last months chemical attack.
