Syria, US Wars of Aggression, and the Wrong 'Red Lines'

Syria, US Wars of Aggression, and the Wrong 'Red Lines'

The world we inhabit badly needs red lines, but "the right red lines"

By Richard Falk

May 09, 2013 "Information Clearing House" -"Al Jazeera" - There are widespread reports that President Obama had not fully appreciated the political consequences of responding to a question at an August press conference that asked about the consequences of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime. Obama replied that such a use would be to cross "a red line". Such an assertion was widely understood to be a threat either to launch air strikes or to provide rebel forces with major direct military assistance, including weaponry. 

There have been sketchy reports that Syria did make some use of chemical weapons, as well as allegations that the reported use was "a false flag" operation, designed to call Obama's bluff. As the New York Times notes in a front page story on May 7, Obama "finds himself in a geopolitical box, his credibility at stake with frustratingly few good option". 

Such a policy dilemma raises tactical issues of how to intervene without risking serious involvement in yet another Middle Eastern war. It also raises delicate questions of presidential leadership in a highly polarised domestic political atmosphere, readily exploited by belligerent Republican politicians backed by a rabid media that always seem to be pushing Obama to pursue a more muscular foreign policy in support of America's global interests.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34878.htm