Obama and McCain Heading Us Toward War in Syria

We all know that President Obama (foolishly) said a chemical weapons attack by Assad's forces would be a "red line" that if crossed, would trigger a military response -- and it appears clear that the Syrians conducted a chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus that killed as many as 1,300 people.

On Friday,CNNreported Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said a "speedy response” may be needed to thwart another strike if claims of Syria's use of chemical weapons prove true.

While Obama was supposedly talking with his national security team, the establishment media was packed with the Capitol Hill Republican neo cons talking about the "deepening crisis” in Syria.

Typical of the push for U.S. intervention were the comments of Senator John McCain, who justified his continuing demands for the U.S. to intervene by tellingThe Hill, "When we do nothing, not only do they [the Assad regime] have a green light, but this gives a green light to brutal dictators all over the world they can do the same thing.”

Doing nothing in Syria is not an option, claim Senator McCain and his wingman, Senator Lindsey Graham.

McCain and Graham have now been joined by Tennessee Senator Robert Corker, who has called for Obama to act in a "very surgical and responsible way."

Senator Corker said hehopesthat President Obama "will ask for authorization from Congress" before reacting to the strikes, and then use a method "that gets their attention, that causes them to understand that we are not going to put up with this activity."

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

According to what McCain toldCNN,he worries that it is already too late to stop Assad from using chemical weapons.

A senior administration official says there is "very little doubt" that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians in the incident that killed 1,300 people last week.

So, the "red line” has definitely been crossed and McCain’s "worries” have been confirmed as fact; what's next is intervention in Syria or a vast blemish on American credibility.

Of course McCain, Graham and Corker wouldlikeAmericans to believe that a "very surgical and responsible” intervention won’t involve American troops or "boots on the ground.”

However, if this is about chemical weapons, then that certainly flies in the face of what Senator Graham said back on March 19, when he toldForeign Policy’s Josh Rogin, "Absolutely, you've got to get on the ground. There is no substitute for securing these [chemical] weapons," he said. "I don't care what it takes. We need partners in the region. But I'm here to say, if the choice is to send in troops to secure the weapons sites versus allowing chemical weapons to get in the hands of some of the most violent people in the world, I vote to cut this off before it becomes a problem."

For once, Senator Graham may be giving us the straight scoop instead of merely chasing the nearest TV camera.

We doubt that Senator Corker’s "surgical and responsible” intervention talk has much basis in the reality of what it would take to "secure” one of the largest chemical weapons stockpiles in the world. If we intervene, then someone is going to have to follow-up on the ground to make sure the chemical weapons are secured -- and that someone is logically the American military.

Such a course of action would play directly into the hands of our radical Islamist enemies. The Syrian civil war has created an entirely new theater for radical Islam to recruit jihadis and to engage them in live fire training. They would like nothing better than to draw the United States into another Middle East killing ground that will sacrifice American lives and further empty our Treasury.

Many conservatives applaud the great job Senator McCain has been doing embarrassing Obama and showing how foolish his "red line” statement was. However, the conclusion of this campaign to show how feckless Obama is on national security is rapidly starting to turn into the reality of American intervention in Syria.

For most of the life of this Republic, our country’s leaders wisely chosenotto try to remake the world at the point of a bayonet or to make every "deepening crisis" in any part of the world an excuse for American military intervention. It is time for conservatives and libertarians to join forces and demand adherence to that sound national policy before Obama, McCain and company put American "boots on the ground” in the Middle East once again.

By CHQ Staff

http://www.conservativehq.com