Growing U.S. Isolation on Syria

In the space of a day the seemingly inexorable U.S.-led run up to war on Syria appears to have come undone. Obama is still talking tough but it is apparent that the United States is for now almost entirely isolated. The United Nations is clearly on record with statements by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi that the inspectors be given time to do their job and that any military action must be approved by the Security Council. Adding to the Obama administration's woes is an announcement yesterday by Syrian UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari that

[H]e had submitted evidence of the three new instances of chemical weapons use in Syria, which he asserted had been carried out by armed terrorist groups, the government’s blanket term for Syrian opposition forces.

Mr. Jaafari said they occurred on Aug. 22, 24 and 25, and were also in the Damascus suburbs. He said Syrian soldiers were the targets. The ambassador did not explain why he waited to come forth with the allegations. 

“The Syrian government is requesting the secretary general to immediately instruct the investigation team operating in Damascus to investigate immediately these three heinous crimes,” the ambassador said. 

Mr. Jaafari repeated the Syrian government’s denials that it had ever used chemical weapons in the conflict and said the accusations were a conspiracy by Western nations acting on Israel’s behalf. He rejected assertions by the United States, Britain and other Western allies that there was persuasive evidence of Syrian government culpability in the use of the banned weapons. 

“We are not warmongers,” he told reporters outside the Security Council chambers. “We are a peaceful nation seeking stability.”

This from a story by Stephen Castle, Steven Erlanger and Rick Gladstone, "Britain to Wait on Weapons Report Ahead of Syria Strikes," which, given the extensive coverage in the press this morning, is probably the best single story on yesterday's setback for the warhawks.

Responding to Britain's failed effort to clear a authorization of force out of the Security Council, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf did her best to impersonate the bellicose tones of former Bush UN ambassador John Bolton:

“All previous attempts to get the Security Council to act on Syria have been blocked, and we cannot allow diplomatic paralysis to be a shield for the perpetrators of these crimes,” she said. “We do not believe that the Syrian regime should be able to hide behind the fact that the Russians continue to block action on Syria at the U.N.” 

Asked if the United States would await the findings of the United Nations inspectors, Ms. Harf repeated the administration’s assertions that their work was too late to be credible because Syrian government forces had repeatedly shelled the attack sites, compromising evidence-gathering efforts. 

“We’re going to make our own decisions on our own timelines about our response,” she said. “Obviously, we will continue consultations with our international partners around the world, but we are making decisions based on our own timeline.”

It's all right out of the Bush playbook. It's as if we're suddenly reliving the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003. But the good news here is that while in the past Obama has been able to successfully put over the same old Bush policies -- drones, surges -- because of his gravitas as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, those days are effectively done.

Cameron had to agree to two not one Parliamentary votes spread out over nearly a week. The debate promises to be lively with the warhawks taking a drubbing since their position is riddled with contradictions and omissions. What's the purpose of limited strikes other than to kill more innocents? Why can't the rebels be behind the Ghouta chemical attack? Unlike Iraq, why not let the inspectors complete their mission this time? The U.S. Congress, though less convincingly than its British cousins, is also demanding a debate and a vote.

Today the Obama administration will reveal its "irrefutable evidence" of Syrian government responsibility for last week's chemical attack. Its lies -- Biden repeated again yesterday the canard that Syrian Arab Army shelling of the site of the chemical attack has rendered any inspection not credible -- and silence up until now foretell a presentation that will be underwhelming.