"Privately, Hill aides joke that everything is going exactly to President Obama's plan. It's just that that plan is to stay far, far away from Syria.
Boxed in by red-line rhetoric and the Sunday show warriors, the Obama administration needed to somehow mobilize the opposition to war in Syria. It did that by "fumbling" the roll-out terribly.
Obama turned on a dime and decided to go to Congress at the last minute, making his administration look indecisive and fearful of shouldering the blame for this unpopular intervention, putting the decision in the hands of a body famous for being unable to make decisions, giving the argument for strikes more time to lose support, and giving an American public that opposes intervention in Syria more time and venues to be heard.
And then, after all that, Obama goes to Congress with an absurdly broad force authorization -- so broad that it doesn't specify when it ends, or even really limit which countries can be hit. The force authorization offended even Obama's allies in Congress, left many questioning his motives, and has now been thrown out by the Senate. Members of Congress and their aides I've spoken to remain shocked that Obama chose to come to Congress and then handed them that document.
The Obama administration's strategy to cool the country on this war without expressly backing away from the president's red lines has been brilliant, Hill aides say (just look at the polls showing overwhelming opposition!). If they are going to go to war, their efforts to goad Congress into writing a punitively narrow authorization of force that sharply limits any potential for escalation have worked beautifully."
And then, after all that, Obama goes to Congress with an absurdly broad force authorization -- so broad that it doesn't specify when it ends, or even really limit which countries can be hit. The force authorization offended even Obama's allies in Congress, left many questioning his motives, and has now been thrown out by the Senate. Members of Congress and their aides I've spoken to remain shocked that Obama chose to come to Congress and then handed them that document.
The Obama administration's strategy to cool the country on this war without expressly backing away from the president's red lines has been brilliant, Hill aides say (just look at the polls showing overwhelming opposition!). If they are going to go to war, their efforts to goad Congress into writing a punitively narrow authorization of force that sharply limits any potential for escalation have worked beautifully."
No comments:
Post a Comment