Good God, are we serious?
The United States does not expect a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria's chemical weapons to include a potential use of military force due to Russian opposition, senior Obama administration officials said on Friday.
Their comments suggested Washington will not insist on including the use of force in the U.N. resolution.
Does our administration actually believe the path to peace in Syria goes through Putin?
Put in harsh condemnation of Syria in the resolution. Put military consequences for failing to follow every demand into the resolution. Put an open skies provision in the resolution to require Syria to allow Western surveillance planes free access to Syrian air space to monitor chemical weapons sites.
The purpose of negotiations shouldn't be to pretend these negotiations are serious. The purpose of the negotiations should be to show Russia to be a distasteful thug-supporting government that is unwilling to stand against the use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
The purpose should be to end this bizarre idea that Russia stands for international law and peace:
Putin has pulled off something incredible: He’s gotten Washington to anoint him as the international community’s official peacemaker, even as he assists Iran in going nuclear and keeping their blood-soaked Syrian client in his presidential palace.
The purpose of our diplomacy should be to get Putin to veto the stupid UN resolution and get on with dealing with Assad without the Russians in the way at the UN.
The purpose, ultimately, should be to get back on track to making sure Assad goes--as our president once demanded. And as long as Russia is involved in this, making sure Assad goes is the last thing that will happen.
UPDATE: Oops. Fixed title ... obviously.
