I’ve written two Syria pieces, one last night and one this morning, that seek to debunk the idea that we’re in a proxy war against Russia on the side of the Sunnis in a regional war against the Shiites, and that the president has ever thought that we were, and that the president’s Syrian policy is in disarray. I think my argument is substantially bolstered by the president’s own words today on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
As for the public perception of his own management of the U.S. response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, Obama said, “Folks here in Washington like to grade on style.”
“And so had we rolled out something that was very smooth and disciplined and linear – they would have graded it well, even if it was a disastrous policy,” he continued. “We know that, ’cause that’s exactly how they graded the Iraq War – until it ended up… blowing up in our face.”
Talking about his relationship with Putin, Obama said he doesn’t think his Russian counterpart “has the same values that we do” and that Putin has a “different attitude about the Assad regime.” But, he said, both countries “have an interest in preventing chaos” and “preventing terrorism.”
“This is not a contest between the United States and Russia. I mean, the fact of the matter is that if Russia wants to have some influence in Syria post-Assad, that doesn’t hurt our interests,” he said.“And I think there’s a way for Mr. Putin, despite me and him having a whole lot of differences, to play an important role in that,” he continued. “And so I welcome him being involved. I welcome him saying, ‘I will take responsibility for pushing my client, the Assad regime, to deal with these chemical weapons.'”
For the neo-cons, our Syria policy was rather explicitly about preventing Russia (and also Iran) from having any influence in Syria. The same can be said for our Sunni allies in the region. The same can be said for Israel. The president doesn’t think that and never has thought that.
And, as long as you think that he does think that, you won’t have a clue why he’s doing what he’s doing.