{"id":129859,"date":"2012-02-20T15:34:04","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T20:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?p=129859"},"modified":"2012-12-26T16:07:31","modified_gmt":"2012-12-26T21:07:31","slug":"slow-down-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Slow Down In Syria!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Article:<\/strong> Why Obama Should Go Slow In Syria<\/a> by Leslie H. Gelb in the Daily Beast.<\/p>\n

The Text:<\/strong> Faced with evil, Americans always want to be on the side of the angels. So American interventionists, hawks, and human-rights types are banding together, as they did in Libya, to stop President Bashar al-Assad from killing his people. But when interventionists become avenging angels, they blind themselves and the nation, and run dangerously amok. They plunge in with no plans, with half-baked plans, with demands to supply arms to rebels they know nothing about, with ideas for no-fly zones and bombing. Their good intentions could pave the road to hell for Syrians\u2014preserving lives today, but sacrificing many more later.<\/p>\n

Characteristically, the interventionists aren\u2019t holding themselves to higher account; they\u2019re blaming President Obama. To them, it\u2019s all about his failure to act. But the president is moving sensibly and with due dispatch to restrain Assad\u2019s killings. He\u2019s squeezing the dictator economically and isolating him diplomatically. And while it doesn\u2019t look like much, it is suppressing Assad\u2019s freedom to slaughter. He has the military power to kill far more of his people. Meantime, President Obama is trying to fashion a coalition for more direct action\u2014and it isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

The natural choice to blunt Assad\u2019s savagery, the Arab League, is practically useless. The league\u2019s \u201cobserver missions\u201d have failed. (What a surprise!) Now, the league seeks a joint observer mission with the United Nations. Mind you, if the league really wanted to act decisively, it could, as it did against Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, under NATO cover.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Forget about the U.N. Security Council too. That august body couldn\u2019t even pass a mild resolution calling for a halt to violence on both sides\u2014a measure that didn\u2019t even demand Assad\u2019s removal. Not wanting to encourage interventionary precedents, China and Russia vetoed it. Not to worry; the Security Council promises in its typically frivolous way to \u201cremain actively seized of the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is no wonder, then, that U.S. hawks chime in with their tried and true panaceas: secret arms aid, open arms aid, air protection for starters, bombing, whatever. In typical form, Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman went further and said: \u201cThe bloodshed must be stopped, and we should rule out no option that could help to save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet the hawks do not make clear who would supply the arms, nor exactly who would receive them. Small arms, not heavy weapons, are now flowing from the Arabs and the Turks. Ask them and they\u2019ll tell you that with more weapons, they foresee an all-out civil war, perhaps spilling into their countries. Assad would be deposed, but the price would be very high. Muddying the water further, there are lots of Syrian factions with widely divergent and conflicting views. Some want foreign arms and more; others don\u2019t. Most haven\u2019t given a clear thought to governing post-Assad.<\/p>\n

Life after Assad probably would be more volatile than post\u2013Hosni Mubarak Egypt. The Syrian political map is quite explosive: a potential rulership of Islamic extremists; Alawites like Assad who depend almost entirely on his rule; Christians who greatly fear the extremists for what they did to Christians in Iraq and Egypt; and good, solid Sunni businessmen who might not have the stomach for a battle. Nor can outsiders expect to control this m\u00e9nage.<\/p>\n

One idea advanced by interventionists deserves more attention: safe havens. The idea is to set up zones to which Syrians can flee for protection, say in Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. The catch here is that advocates also call for no-fly zones patrolled probably by U.S. fighters in case Assad attacks the zones. More problematic still is that Syrian air-defense systems are first rate and would endanger U.S. fighters.<\/p>\n

Americans can\u2019t believe there aren\u2019t great solutions, and it\u2019s not for a lack of creativity. Salvation for the Syrians, however, may rest not in solving the problem with bold and rudderless fixes, but in ensuring Washington doesn\u2019t make matters worse\u2014for ourselves and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Article: Why Obama Should Go Slow In Syria by Leslie H. Gelb in the Daily Beast. The Text: Faced with evil, Americans always want to be on the side of the angels. So American interventionists, hawks, and human-rights types are banding together, as they did in Libya, to stop President Bashar al-Assad from killing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSlow Down In Syria!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why Obama should proceed slowly in regard to Syria.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Slow Down In Syria!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why Obama should proceed slowly in regard to Syria.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prose Before Hos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-20T20:34:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-12-26T21:07:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Article of the Day\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pbhnetwork\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pbhnetwork\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Article of the Day\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/\",\"name\":\"Slow Down In Syria!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-20T20:34:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-12-26T21:07:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e19d7cf2b1a9aea1805fd7b4b4b2b4e\"},\"description\":\"Why Obama should proceed slowly in regard to Syria.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Slow Down In Syria!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/\",\"name\":\"Prose Before Hos\",\"description\":\"The Far Side Of Politics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e19d7cf2b1a9aea1805fd7b4b4b2b4e\",\"name\":\"Article of the Day\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pbhnetwork\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/author\/article-of-the-day\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Slow Down In Syria!","description":"Why Obama should proceed slowly in regard to Syria.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Slow Down In Syria!","og_description":"Why Obama should proceed slowly in regard to Syria.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/","og_site_name":"Prose Before Hos","article_published_time":"2012-02-20T20:34:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-12-26T21:07:31+00:00","author":"Article of the Day","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pbhnetwork","twitter_site":"@pbhnetwork","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Article of the Day","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/","url":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/","name":"Slow Down In Syria!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-02-20T20:34:04+00:00","dateModified":"2012-12-26T21:07:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e19d7cf2b1a9aea1805fd7b4b4b2b4e"},"description":"Why Obama should proceed slowly in regard to Syria.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/02\/20\/slow-down-in-syria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Slow Down In Syria!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/","name":"Prose Before Hos","description":"The Far Side Of Politics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1e19d7cf2b1a9aea1805fd7b4b4b2b4e","name":"Article of the Day","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/pbhnetwork"],"url":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/author\/article-of-the-day\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129859"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133675,"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129859\/revisions\/133675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}