Syria

My procrastinating on this whole Syria thing seems to be paying off as we have more diplomacy coming to bear.  I had a post written about why I do not believe we should go into Syria, but now I am seeing all sorts of stuff coming from the right about how Obama has now blown it completely and we are no longer a real super power.  Um, OK Glenn Beck, whatever you say.  Some folks think we've been played by Putin and he now comes across as the dove in all of this.  I would remain skeptical.  We've known for months that Syria has had chemical weapons and has used them in the past.  Where was Putin with his suggestion then?  Where was the UN then?  It was the imminent thread of an attack from the United States that brought this idea to the forefront.  Were we played by Putin on this?  Could be.  Should we care?  No.  Anything that can avoid an armed conflict is probably a good thing, but the devil will be in the details.  So, to Glenn Beck, is there any other country in the world that could have flexed it muscles the way the US did and have gotten Russia or anyone else to step forward with a better plan?  Does that not make us a super power?

I have no idea how this is going to play out, but the question has to be asked, who else has even remotely cared about what is going on in Syria other than the US?  I'm not even sure Israel cared because it kept Assad and others in his country focused internally rather than externally.

The other question that has to be asked is how would the conservatives have responded had it been President Romney in the White House.   I can assure you that their position would have been very different.  I think it is a sad state of affairs that we have a Republican Party that is so hell bent on being anti-Obama that they don't have a principled bone left in their dead party.  These guys change their positions to the anti-Obama position so fast that I'm shocked they don't have whiplash.

In a strange time warp soft of way, Obama has successfully turned the Republican Party into the anti-war party.  Maybe he deserved that Nobel Peace Price just for that.  Geez, even Donald Rumsfeld is criticizing the President on this.

Politics aside, I'll be happy to see a diplomatic end to this rather than see an escalation of violence.