Each cruise missile costs the American taxpayers about $1.4 million. The Russians may have just saved us a couple hundred of them, and spared the lives of quite a few Syrian soldiers, defense personnel, and Russians manning anti-aircraft sites in Syria.
It now appears less likely that the U.S. will take military action in Syria any time in the near future. President Obama, in an address to the nation last night, announced that he’s requesting that Congress postpone a vote on Syrian military action indefinitely. My guess is the vote will never happen.
President Obama had backed himself into a corner by drawing a red line on chemical weapon use in Syria. (Of course Obama now denies he ever drew a red line, famously stating, “I didn’t set a red line; the world set a red line…”)
Brutal Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, jumped with both feet across that red line (whoever drew it) by using chemical weapons against his own people, killing over 1,400; 426 of whom were innocent children.
All indications were the Obama Administration was going to take military action to punish Assad. Cruise missiles are nowadays the weapons of choice in such cases, because significant damage can be inflicted without actually putting “boots on the ground” and risking the lives of our own military personnel. And for all intents and purposes, that appeared to be the direction that Obama had decided to take.
Then unexpectedly, the British Parliament (reflective of the sentiments of the British people) said NO to joining the U.S. in any military action. Obama had lost our traditional ally, and, I believe, decided at that point that he was hanging out there all alone on this. He needed cover. He needed to share the risk. Someone to share the blame if things went wrong. He’d come to Congress.
And I think he assumed that either Congress would support his plan for limited military action, in which case he had some cover, or, if Congress voted against authorizing military action, he could blame Congress for inaction.
I can tell you from personal experience, that the overwhelming number of people in my district who have weighed in through phone calls, emails, telephone town hall meetings, or in person, have expressed opposition to U.S. military involvement in Syria at this time. And from talking to quite a few other Members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, they are getting the same feedback from their constituents across the country. It’s pretty clear that President Obama has failed to make the case to the American people that the U.S. should take military action in Syria.
If the vote was taken in the House, it’s my belief it would have failed. In fact, I doubt the vote would even have been close.
However, yesterday the Russians may have given President Obama a way out of his predicament. Secretary of State Kerry, in what at the time seemed to be an off-the-cuff comment, suggested that perhaps Syria could still avoid a U.S. military strike by turning over its chemical weapons to “the international community in the next week.” Adding “but he isn’t about to do it, and it can’t be done.”
Well, surprise surprise. Russia, Syria’s ally, jumped in and said sure, and we’ll handle it. Syria said fine with us. And President Obama has grabbed onto this lifeline, and we’ll see where it all leads. The good news is, maybe we’ll be able to avoid a military strike which was opposed by most of the American people, and which could have had unforeseen consequences. The bad news is, Russia’s Putin has been playing the Obama Administration (and the Bush Administration before it) for years now, and we must be very wary of being led down a dark alley by this guy. As Ronald Reagan famously said about his Russian (then Soviet) counterparts, “trust, but verify.”
And finally, I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to weigh in with me on this important issue by email, letter, phone, or participating in one of my telephone town hall meetings. I can assure you that your input has been very important in my consideration of this important matter.
May God Bless the United States of America.