Saturday, August 24, 2013

You Can Only Dream About a War of Choice

Remember how the left complained that the Iraq War was a "war of choice?" There will be no choice over Syria.

Yeah, the public debate in the media went on for months in fall 2002 and Congress even debated and voted to go to war with Saddam's Iraq.

Now, defense chiefs will do the debating in Jordan about war in Syria:

The meeting, planned two months ago, is the third that the top military officers have held on Syria this year, but it has gained new urgency since a nerve gas attack reported to have killed hundreds near Damascus this week.

A Jordanian defense source said the defense chiefs of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Italy were expected to attend, along with those of Turkey, which has already seen the conflict spill over its border, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which are both supporting Syrian anti-government rebels.

And then our president will simply announce we are at war--just like Libya--unlike the declaration of war that Constitution-shredder Bush had for 2003. President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron seem determined to strike in response to chemical weapons use:

The prime minister and US president said time was running out for Assad to allow UN weapons inspectors into the areas where the attack took place. Government sources said the two leaders agreed that all options should be kept open, both to end the suffering of the Syrian people and to make clear that the west could not stand by as chemical weapons were used on innocent civilians.

Funny enough, the Americans and British will lead this effort and it involves UN inspectors and WMD questions.

Who knew that when the left said Iraq was a war of choice that it really meant we made the choice to go to war?

Mind you, it would be nice to finally do something to topple Assad. But I do want to point out how hope and change seems to have edged out debate and a declaration of war.

UPDATE: Wait. France might join the attack?

"President Obama and President Hollande discussed possible responses by the international community and agreed to continue to consult closely," the White House said in a statement.

Well, then what more do you want? That was the gold standard for the left to judge Iraq, wasn't it?

Feel the nuance.