With Congress and the American people balking at the idea of Use of Force Resolutions and air strikes against Syria. As international support is proving barely luke warm. President Obama may have found a friend in the unlikeliest of places. Russia.
OK, I’m apologizing in advance, but I’m going to take credit for this.* On Saturday, I was asked, given my opposition to air strikes, what I would recommend instead. One of the options I presented was:
Press the Russians to take out the chemical weapons and dispose of them. Russia is the only country that has that kind of sway with Syria and the Russians at one point offered to do just that. Call their bluff and force their hand. How? By embarrassing them with a UN resolution they would be forced to veto, the veto being only justifiable if they did something about chemical weapons in Syria. Tricky diplomacy…maybe above John Kerry’s pay grade IMO…but at least the turd ends up in Putin’s pocket instead of ours.
Somebody at the NSA appears to have been listening. Politico now reports:
White House and State Department officials said Monday they’re open to proposals by Russia to put Syria’s stocks of chemical weapons under international control…
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also expressed interest Monday in the Russian proposal and predicted that the international community would act quickly if Syria was willing to turn its chemical weapons over to international control.
Other prominent figures such as Senator Diane Feinstein have also reacted favorably. It is fair to say that the administration maintains a healthy skepticism given Russia’s longstanding support of the Assad regime.
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*According to the Russians the real credit goes to John Kerry making an off the cuff remark about Assad having a week or so to turn over his chemical weapons to international control. Well, I can dream they listen to me, can’t I?
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.