Obama's Middle East Collapse

By Douglas V. Gibbs

We were told that Syria's President Assad is a bad man, and must be removed, but any military action would not be so severe as to affect a regime change.  We were told that a message must be sent to Syria for using chemical weapons, of which Assad has denied using, and evidence has emerged that the rebels used the gas against their own people to deceive onlookers, and to draw in the United States so as to help them remove Assad.  We were told the United States must punish Assad for using weapons of mass destruction by hitting him with a limited strike that should take less than an hour, and destroy nearly nothing.  We were told during the Bush administration's war in Iraq that it was an illegal war, and that Bush was a war-monger for engaging in that war that showed evidence of Iraq using chemical weapons against the Kurds, and evidence that though there were claims there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, they had been shipped to Syria. . . but President Obama saying he will strike against Syria, with or without permission from Congress is legal, constitutional, and well within Obama's authorities.  We were told he was going to strike against Syria because we are the biggest power capable of doing so, and we would be doing so with only France by our side.  However with a coalition of over 50 nations, Bush was told his war in Iraq was illegal and lacked international support.  And finally, as our influence in the Middle East diminishes thanks to Obama's blunders in nation after nation in that region, Obama is considering it a success that we are handing over the reigns to Russia, that Russia will be in charge of ensuring the chemical weapons, many of which they gave to Syria (and of the stash from Iraq was probably of Russian origination as well), will be safely removed and watched over, and that they will ensure to killing by chemical weaponry will stop as they arm the dictators of the region so that thousands may be killed by conventional weapons.

On top of all of this, President Obama is confused, because he claimed that the only reason the Muslims hate us was because of Bush.  Obama's election would calm the terrorists, and encourage them to work peaceably with us, yet under Obama's watch the Middle East situation has worsened, Islamism is spreading throughout the region like wild fire, and the world is worse off because of Obama's policies. . .

Yet, he is somehow held unaccountable for it all.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary