Syria: Obama's Mideast Waterloo?

Syria burns, Obama fiddles....

Adam Garfinkle acidly demolishes Obama's feckless inaction as Syrian thug-ruler Bashir Assad slaughters those rising against his tyranny. Team Obama fantasizes that Russia, sponsor of Syria's Stalinist Assad dynasty, will cooperate in removing Bashir from power; "O" & minions assume that tribal Yemen and religious sectarian Syria are comparable situations, and that a Yemen-style easing out of the dictator will work in Syria; and Obama's resolute refusal to see that the fall of Assad's regime would be a serious blow to Iran's strategic position--and thus, a huge victory for the US.

None of this, Garfininkle writes, bears any relation to reality.  In this he is right: Russian "reset" was absurd from the outset--a patina of pleasantry to cover abject surrender to Moscow's preferences everywhere: an ostensible strategic nuclear arms reduction treaty that reduces US arms only; looking the other way as Russia impinges upon Ukraine; forgiving Russia's obstructionism over Iran & Syria; congratulating Tsar Vlad the Bad's recent election victory in a patently fraudulent election coupled with vicious suppression of opposing factions and leaders.

Barry Rubin notes that Obama subcontracted our Syria policy to pro-Islamist Turkey.  He sums up:

To summarize, the Obama policy shows three characteristics that have wider implications for the president’s strategies. It favors Islamist enemies; it “leads from behind” by giving the initiative to those who wish America no good; and it shows no interest in helping genuinely pro-American moderates who are fighting for their lives.

Yet the WSJ reports that one confidential survey shows more support for Turkey & the US than for Islamism (if contradictiions drive you over the edge, you have company--me).

The WashPost editors shred Obama's pretensions on Syria, as to seeking help from the likes of Putin & Kofi Annan (the latter seeks to preserve the assad regime!):

The reality is that the killing in Syria will continue, and the threat to vital U.S. interests across the Middle East will grow, until Mr. Obama stops counting on the likes of Kofi Annan and Vladi­mir Putin to spare him from the responsibility that should be shouldered by a U.S. president. The longer he waits, the greater the cost — in children’s lives, among other things.

Meanwhile, Syrian rebels have made plans to capture Syria's chemical arsenal in less than 24 hours, should they have the regime on the run.

Bottom Line.  Voters focused on the economy may not notice that America's once preeminent position in the Mideast is eroding rapidly.  Fortunately for Obama, the bill for such a needless set of sacrifices will be paid, but likely after November 6, 2012.

Letter from the Capitol, LFTC, Foreign Policy, Conservative Politics