The Gathering Storm in Syria

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

II wonder if this is more to do with the recent victories by the Assad forces in a couple of strategic towns whose names I have since forgotten.

Obama seems to either be a bumbling idiot or a strategic realist (see earlier article) with respect to Syria. If he is a bumbling idiot, his hand got played for him from surrounding peer pressure and when Syria called out his red line by using chemical weapons. If he is strategic realist, he is responding to the recent victories by Assad et al. and using their use of chemical weapons as an excuse to get minimally involved to keep the status quo.

Originally Posted by Griff

That is the sort of idiocy which leads me to believe the President really wants this war, collision with Russia be damned.

I disagree. Obama has had more than enough chances to escalate in the past and he didn't. If Obama really wanted war, we would be already be training the rebels, arming them with heavy weapons, and enforcing a no-fly zone. He has a choice and he has chosen not to. Everything Obama has done (up to this point) has suggested that he wants minimal or no involvement in this.