Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Really?

A little earlier, we caught up on the latest news regarding the possible diplomatic breakthrough on Syria. The Obama Administration is now agreeing to UN talks on Syria. While White House officials are publicly leaving military options on the table, they are looking closely into Russia's latest offer.

So against this backdrop, Senator Dean Heller (R-??!!) finally announced his opposition to military action against Syria. Um... OK?! And this came on the heels of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Duck & Cover) announced his opposition to military action against Syria.

Why did they announce this today? Frankly, this feels awfully "day late and dollar short".

Many Members of Congress have had to struggle over this decision. And many have reached differing conclusions for various reasons. And yes, some have even still had trouble reaching a conclusion very recently.

However, it seems awfully odd that certain Republicans have quickly abandoned their bellicose foreign policy posturing "principles" to oppose President Obama no matter what. Some have even gone as far as to praise Russian President Vladimir Putin for recent developments while castigating President Obama for... Something, anything! And Republicans wonder why their party has become so dysfunctional?

Many on the left and on the right have differed with President Obama's Syria proposal for legitimate and principled reasons. That's not being questioned here. Rather, what is being questioned is politicians playing political games with the Syria issue.

In recent days, we've had a chance to have a legitimate debate on the use of force, and on the future of US foreign policy. It's just irritating to notice how some have tried to cheapen the debate by trying to score fast political points while ignoring the real policy issues at stake.

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