Why a President
who came to office on the strength of his anti-war credentials -
especially on the phony war foisted on Iraq - is running with the war
hounds, is something of a mystery. But the rest of the Washington
establishment is champing at the bit to unleash missiles on the Syrian
regime, promising a short punitive strike, in keeping with the well-worn
belief that America cannot live without a war.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was among those who indicated that the US was "ready to go" the moment President Barack Obama
gave the sign. "We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and
comply with whatever option the president wishes to take," Hagel said
on Tuesday.
This, when a UN team is still investigating the
reported use of chemical weapons in the conflict between the regime of
Bashir al Assad and the rebels. The UN team has been asked to pack up
and get out of the way. "We clearly value the UN's work - we've said
that from the beginning - when it comes to investigating chemical
weapons in Syria. But we've reached a point now where we believe too
much time has passed for the investigation to be credible and that it's
clear the security situation isn't safe for the team in Syria," State
Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Tuesday, echoing the kind of
impatience that characterized the descent into the Iraq war.
Despite the appalling intelligence failures during previous such
conflicts, US officials placed immense faith in their own findings while
scoffing at international efforts. "I think the intelligence will
conclude that it wasn't the rebels who used it and there'll probably be
pretty good intelligence to show that the Syria government was
responsible," Hagel said in a BBC interview. The prospect of the war,
even a limited strike, upsetting a range of friends and allies, from
Israel to India, does not seem to be holding back Washington's war
veterans (both Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel served in the military).
If all this recalls the war against Iraq not too long ago, not many in
Washington seem keen on remembering it. Instead, explanations are being
proffered on how different this case is and how it will be a short,
surgical strike, not really a war.
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