Because it isn’t based on a lie.
Except, who knows if this is really about chemical weapons. I’ve heard some talk about a planned LNG pipeline out of Qatar, though Syria and through to Western Europe. Assad won’t allow it. Maybe that’s the motive?
Nah, probably that US foreign policy revolves around concern for dead Arabs. /snark
Speaking of W, if we get dragged into Syria I bet Obama’s legacy goes down the tubes. So, would that ‘punish’ Obama? Better to have a respectable president and no war.
Latest from Kerry: US attack on Syria will be “an unbelievably small, limited kind of effort.”
Does this guy ever listen to what he says?
From the above link, this was fun reading:
The General National Congress is secular for its place-and-culture. The Justice and Construction Party (Muslim Brotherhood) holds only 17 seats out of 200, and there is no more radical Islamic faction represented. Most Libyans are Sunni Muslims, so the Sunni-Shi’a strife is not a factor. I know about the Berbers (though I’ve never met any), but AFAIK, they haven’t been making any trouble since the war ended. Blacks took it on the ear right after the war, but that seems to have quieted down and there were never very many. The most salient rivalries in Libya right now appear to be (1) tribal and (2) regional (some wanting independence or autonomy for Benghazi/Cyrenaica).
The situation in Syria is much more volatile.
Heard on NPR just now one opinion on Russia and China is that they feel they got burned on the Libyan resolution. (aside: Why can’t Libya and Syria put their damn "y"s in the same damn place in their names!) We told them the strikes would be limited and not aimed at regime change. Well, look what happened.
Syria ‘Welcomes’ Russian Call to Give Up Chemical Weapons
“Syria said it welcomed a Russian proposal that it hand over chemical weapons to be destroyed, without saying whether it would comply, as a suggestion by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gained traction.
Mr. Kerry said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government could prevent U.S. military action in response to what the U.S. said was a chemical-weapons attack on Aug. 21 by handing its chemical weapons to the international community. Syria has denied using chemical weapons and blamed Syrian rebels for the attack”
Sensible, as in a convoluted way of continuing the civil war for a more years and a couple more hundred K dead; or simply a delaying tactic?
It includes all the usual suspects: CIA agents in the organization recieving the weapons, hidden weapons, hidden manufacturing facilities, Syrian - Russian conspiracy, …
So, Obama and Putin were absitively, posolutely, not going to have a private meeting at the G-Spot Summit. And then, they did. “Vlad, lets just sit over here, you and me, and talk some shit.”
And this suggestion pops out of nowhere, Syria and Russia accept. OK-doke, so far, so good. A face saver for all concerned and an implicit understanding that Assad will not do it again.
Where’s the problem?
The problem is, has Kerry/Obama got the okay from Israel.
Again, for the Nth time - it is pretty obvious that Israel is quite content if the Al Queda vs. Hezbullah civil war in Syria goes on for the next 100 years.
In that regard, Libya is starting to look more & more like Somalia: the real power lies with the local militias and the warlords that control them, and the official government is largely impotent.
WAY better than having Qaddaffi in power, isn’t it?
You’re in the wrong wood barking up the wrong tree.
Who gives a fuck when one end of the spectrum is the possibility of stores of chemical weapons moving between various unknown radicals in a fractured society.
See, that would happen if rebels won. But if Assad is strong enough to continue the civil war (but not to win it decisively, hopefully), that won’t happen.
There is no win/lose, not for years. This is about now and who controls what this week.
But assuming it does end – which side do they want to win?
Rock and a hard place. Neither, really. But as I said Assad(s) kept the border quiet for close to 40 years. So, if I had to guess, I would say Assad. Hopefully a very weakened Assad busy rebuilding.
+1 to this. Best hope is that Assad manages to not lose control of any chem weapons to Al Qaeda, and he succeeds in killing lots of them, and that, at the end of the day, he’s still on top of the heap of rubble, and far too worn out / busy / broke to cause any trouble for Israel or us.
Sure, OK, but how long will he stay too worn out, busy, and or broke?
Again, see the teaching donkey how to talk story.