A very odd alliance of liberal left and reactionary right is poised to challenge the President's choice to intervene in Syria in response to the chemical attacks on the Syrian population. So, who are those who promote these attacks as well as further action to assist the rebels with regime change? Well, many are the same who believe the United States should impose its will on the Middle East through force even though that policy has brought us to the brink of ruination in Iraq.
The GOP is struggling for a way to make this seem to be a failure of the administration while many of their members are of a different mind. It is almost comical to see the parsing of words to try to find a way to disagree with the President while agreeing. The GOP hawks want a more significant intervention and will try to force the President's hand.
There are no good options and the choice is between doing nothing and assisting the Assad regime or attacking and helping rebel groups such as Al Qaeda assume power. Truth be told, as far as National Security goes we and Israel were much better off with Assad in power but his willingness to maintain an inoffensive position may now be lost. Assad has not helped his case in Congress with his taunting of the United States since quite a few may be swayed just to put him in his place and demonstrate decisiveness with a few cruise missiles.
The use of chemical weapons is horriffic but tens of thousands have already been killed by conventional means that have not distinguished combatant from non-combatant. Perhaps in another time the United States could afford the consequences of striking but this is not the time. The President is seeking cover from Congress and well he should. While he must be able to quickly authorize military force Congress should not be as willing as it has in the past to abdicate responsibility for committing the nation to such action that is indistinguishable from war.
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