It was Aug. 30, 2013, and the U.S. military was poised for war. Obama had publicly warned Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad that his regime would face consequences if it crossed a “red line” by employing chemical weapons against its own people. Assad did it anyway, and Hagel had spent the day approving final plans for a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missile strikes against Damascus. U.S. naval destroyers were in the Mediterranean, awaiting orders to fire.
It speaks volumes of the west’s character when they call “enemies” a “strongman.”
Assad was a pro-western moderate, until the west betrayed him.
Now the west is supporting Sunni/Wahabbi Islam.
“They already had my resignation, so what was the point of just continuing to try to destroy me?”
Preemptive impeachment.
“Despite how his Pentagon stint ended, Hagel said he still holds Obama “in high regard.” ”
Top man. Slow learner.
“Assad was a pro-western moderate”
Well, no he isn’t. He’s only slightly less vile than Ghaddafi was. But like Ghaddafi he’s not nearly as bad as what threatens to replace him.
FDR had a much more realistic view of these things. Commenting on the vicious dictator of Dominica “El Jefe” Trujillo, he noted that “he may be a son of a bitch, but at least he’s our son of a bitch.”
But the rest of your post is basically right. What Libya taught Assad is: don’t surrender to Western demands, or you will end up dead in a ditch the way Ghaddafi did.
Where an Obama “Red Line” is really just a pale shade of pink, is really just a dashed line and can be easily erased.
Worst.
POTUS.
Ever
from the link:
“Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), now a leading Republican contender for the White House, accused Hagel of possibly receiving speaking fees from “extreme or radical groups” but offered up no evidence.”
what does this say about the ethics of this front runner?
volumes. none of it good.
politics as usual !
Fatally conflicted with PC or treason, this administration and likely the next one can’t be counted on to have a coherent enough strategy to prevent bogging down in another foreign disaster like all the rest.
Sometimes you just have to pick the lesser of two evils.
No doubt that Assad is a brutal, tyrannical dictator. Saddam Hussein and Ghaddafi both fell into the same category. They all had one thing in common however besides being harsh, even murderous leaders … they knew what was required to keep the lunatics under control and didn’t hesitate to use whatever means necessary to do so. Unfortunately, many innocent civilians were caught up in the ugly mess but really, what other options were there other than sheer, brute force?
Here, in the west, we are in no position to pass judgement and choose leaders in the Middle East since our first world problems pale in comparison to dealing with crazies who exist only to murder and destroy.
Assad was a pro-western moderate”
Excuse me, but Prez O-dumber and Hillary called Assad that and claimed he was a “reformer” a guy they could work with.
Remember when Nancy Pelosi wen to meet Assad too.
accused Hagel of possibly receiving speaking fees.
What makes you think he didn’t? Look who he works for. Ethics isn’t the first thing this Prez has been known for.
“A pro-western moderate” in the context of Syria and the Middle East in general. He did initially eschew working in the family firm for a career as a doctor, in Europe. One wonders what might have become of Syria if he hadn’t gone back to replace his murdered brother as heir to the previous tyrant, his father. No dynasty lasts forever.
Under Assad, Christians and Jews were protected from the muslim hordes.
Muslim countries are either iron-fisted dictatorships or sharia pest-holes.
Take your pick.
it’s called providing evidence of the claim. it matters not a hoot what somebody ‘thinks’ until it translates into a preponderance of evidence.
cruz skipped past that part. which was unethical and in the formal setting of a courtroom or inquiry or grand jury or any other of a number of venues just. doesn’t. cut. it.
but politics is different, isn’t it?
I see the Narrative on Assads “chemical warfare” is still going strong. Funny that one of my co-workers caused the same kind of attack by mixing muriatic acid with Drano in a urinal. “scientists found traces of chlorine and ammonia” indeed.
Management called it “the mustard gas incident” I corrected them.
“…Remember when Nancy Pelosi went to meet Assad too.”
Yes, that does make Assad look bad.
It’s a blood libel in the same vein as the blood libels against Israel.
Red line now means tge Russkies
The 80s called they have thier foreign policy back
The ill considered policies of the US, drawn from the Brzezinski playbook (from Nixon till now), are sputtering to an end…
“Yes, that does make Assad look bad.”
And silly me thought that maybe a decade and half of funding Hezbollah, gassing his own people and letting out of jails every islamic nutcase at the outset of the revolution made him look bad.
When will the western useful idiots ever learn?
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/michael-j-totten/dont-cooperate-assad