The Back Story?

A President who abhors war and voted against invading Iraq, who ended that war and is ending another.  A President with healthy self-respect but without the cowboy bluster or an overblown ego.  A President willing to cede some of his power and take smart risks for a higher good— even if doing so makes him look like a bumblebutt in the eyes of his critics—and some of his friends.

 

I've had my own questions and doubts about the plan for striking Syria, and frustrations with the way the President left himself open for criticism.   I imagine he wishes he had said "the red line set by most of the civilized world years ago"(or something like that) the first time he used the term "red line."  Still, I know the "red line" statement wasn't the motivating factor in his decision to strike; it was the killing of the children and understanding that we could not let that horror go unpunished.

 

My doubts were about the volatility and chaos in the Middle East and what a desperate dictator like Assad might do to his people or his neighbors in the aftermath of a U. S. strike.  My doubts never have been about President Obama's intelligence, integrity or intentions.  I have tremendous confidence in those attributes he embodies—and in the goodness of his heart.  No, he doesn't wear it on his sleeve, but it's there. 

 

We don't know "the back story" of how Putin came to press Assad to give up his chemical weapons to the international agency that monitors those deadly weapons.  Assad had not only said he didn't gas his people but that he had no chemical weapons.  Now he's admitted to having them.   We can't know everything; details cannot always be transparent and effective at the same time.  Still, I believe our President laid the groundwork at the G8 Summit—with Putin and with other leaders, possibly asking allies to apply some pressure as well.    I'm convinced there was serious behind-the-scenes calculus that got us to where we are now.  Secretary Kerry's "off the cuff" remarks might well have been strategic.  And, without a doubt, we wouldn't be looking at the possibility of a chemical-weapon-free Syria today had the President not been willing to retaliate at all costs--going it alone if need be.

 

The President is an excellent poker player; if the Russians and Syrians don't make good on turning the chemical weapons over, I have no doubt Assad will pay a price for his atrocities.  The President will see to it, Congress or no Congress.  He won't get credit if it goes well, and he'll continue to take the blame for everything that appears to go badly.  And anything that actually does go badly.  He's willing to take full responsibility and make the hard decisions.  I like that about him, too.

 

Whatever else may happen, I have confidence in my President.  And I'm glad he's the one in the White House right now.