Somehow I don’t feel that Obama is the real issue here. The real issue is war or peace. I didn’t particularly like the way Obama has handled the whole situation, but as of now, I am pleased that the US is not going to strike in Syria. Exactly how that happened, who gets praise or blame, seems less important.+The war in Syria is terrible. I don’t believe, however, that the US should intervene. I really think US intervention would only make things worse, for pretty much everyone. I wish there were some kind of solution, but I don’t see one, and I don’t see a lot of good suggestions out there. Some people say that there has to be a negotiated settlement. That would be good. Of course Russia has to be involved in that, and just maybe there is a little more chance of that now.+I certainly oppose the use of chemical weapons, and I’m not persuaded by the argument that they are no big deal because you can kill 100,000 people without them. They are a big deal. But I don’t think a military strike would have been the proper response. I think Obama should have called for something like what’s now being proposed. Well, we got there, maybe, and that’s really the point. Perhaps this was all Obama’s plan from the beginning. (Highly unlikely.) Perhaps Obama was totally outmaneuvered by Putin. (What? Obama got pretty much what he wanted and didn’t have to get his foot stuck in the quicksand.) Perhaps Obama and Putin were both improvising, and managed together to pull out something that may work. (Probably what happened.) I think it’s a mistake to concentrate on the loving or hating particular politicians. The people out there in the world, living and dying, hoping and suffering, those are the people who really matter.
Somehow I don’t feel that Obama is the real issue here. The real issue is war or peace. I didn’t particularly like the way Obama has handled the whole situation, but as of now, I am pleased that the US is not going to strike in Syria. Exactly how that happened, who gets praise or blame, seems less important.+The war in Syria is terrible. I don’t believe, however, that the US should intervene. I really think US intervention would only make things worse, for pretty much everyone. I wish there were some kind of solution, but I don’t see one, and I don’t see a lot of good suggestions out there. Some people say that there has to be a negotiated settlement. That would be good. Of course Russia has to be involved in that, and just maybe there is a little more chance of that now.+I certainly oppose the use of chemical weapons, and I’m not persuaded by the argument that they are no big deal because you can kill 100,000 people without them. They are a big deal. But I don’t think a military strike would have been the proper response. I think Obama should have called for something like what’s now being proposed. Well, we got there, maybe, and that’s really the point. Perhaps this was all Obama’s plan from the beginning. (Highly unlikely.) Perhaps Obama was totally outmaneuvered by Putin. (What? Obama got pretty much what he wanted and didn’t have to get his foot stuck in the quicksand.) Perhaps Obama and Putin were both improvising, and managed together to pull out something that may work. (Probably what happened.) I think it’s a mistake to concentrate on the loving or hating particular politicians. The people out there in the world, living and dying, hoping and suffering, those are the people who really matter.