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I’m on the same page as Robert Dreyfuss on the issue of Syria. Hoping for a more levelheaded approach by our Hawk running State.
(The Nation) – The Obama administration’s policy all along has served to escalate the crisis. It has exerted no effort at all to bring about any sort of de-escalation in the crisis, to support talks, and it has given the kiss of death to Kofi Annan’s well-intentioned, and Russian-backed, diplomatic initiative. By championing the cause of the rebels since last year while demonizing Assad, the United States has done everything it can to make the crisis in Syria worse, not better. (Clinton is now accusing Russia of pushing Syria toward “catastropic” civil war.)
Why? Because the best and brightest in the Obama administration, backed by outside hawks, seem to believe that toppling Assad will strike a mortal blow to Iran. It’s not really about Syria. Ten thousand dead in Syria? Twenty times that many, if civil war erupts? Why, it’s worth it if it annoys Ayatollah Khamenei! say the Obama folks.
If real civil wars breaks out in Syria, sympathetic civil wars are likely in Lebanon and Iraq. Iraqi Sunnis will support Sunni fighters in Syria. Iran will tighten its grip on the government in Baghdad, and Iraq might split. Saudi Arabia, in its anti-Iran frenzy, will massively support Sunni fighters and tribes in Syria and Iraq. The entire region could go up in flames. In Lebanon, there are already signs of spillover, and Hezbollah there could react by either seizing power in Beirut or provoking Israel.
It’s not enough for Obama and NATO to resist the Post’s hawkish advice. The White House needs to seek a way out of the crisis in Syria, and that starts with a halt to the demonization of Assad and the pursuit of real diplomacy.
Clinton doesn’t favor go-it-alone actions, a la Cheney. She does, however, often see human rights as a handy way to create a rationale for war. (Obama’s ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, agrees. Not long ago, before taking office, Rice called for air strikes of or a naval blockade of Sudan over the ongoing civil strife in the western region of Darfur.)
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."