Kerry's Bellicose Syria Talk Made Hollow by Budget-Obamacare Showdown

Kareem Fahim reporting from Istanbul has a story today about the poorly regarded Syrian National Coalition:

This dim view of the coalition has gained greater significance after an agreement by the United States and Russia to rid the Syrian government of its chemical weapons stocks, a deal that has renewed talk of an international conference aimed at ending the war with a political settlement. The opposition leaders complained that Mr. Assad had outmaneuvered his international adversaries to stay in power, and they feared that their coalition would be sidelined in any settlement. 

The sense that the opposition leadership was becoming even more marginal deepened last week during some of the fiercest rebel infighting of the war, when fighters linked to Al Qaeda battled other rebels in the northern Syrian town of Azaz, near the border with Turkey. 

The coalition seemed like a bystander as events highlighted the growing turmoil among the opposition fighters in areas nominally under rebel control: after two days of silence, the coalition finally released a statement on Friday condemning the extremist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. 

Frustrated that events were spinning beyond their control, the coalition leaders tried to find other ways to assert their importance during the three-day Istanbul conference last weekend. With rare unanimity, and what appeared to be the blessing of their foreign patrons in the Persian Gulf, they elected a prime minister, Ahmad Tomeh, to lead what they say is an interim government. The opposition leaders also voted to incorporate an alliance of Kurdish parties, broadening the coalition’s support.

The goal for the West is to get an authorization out of the United Nations Security Council allowing the use of force in overseeing Syrian compliance with Chemical Weapons Convention. Reuters has a story about Assad's appearance on China's CCTV where he explains how this would provide the rebels with another opportunity to provoke a Western attack:

In the interview, Assad said gunmen could hinder the access of chemical weapons inspectors to sites where the weapons were stored and made.

He added, "We know that these terrorists are obeying the orders of other countries and these countries do drive these terrorists to commit acts that could get the Syrian government blamed for hindering this agreement."

Moon of Alabama's blog post from yesterday discusses a threat made by Secretary of State John Kerry to withdraw U.S. support for Syria's entry into the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) unless Russia and China agree to a resolution under Chapter VII.

There is very little chance that Russia and China will accede to this demand. Because if they do, the result will be an eventual U.S.-led attack. Learning from its mistake at the end of August -- agreeing to a Congressional vote for the authorization of the use of military force -- the Obama administration will unilaterally interpret non-compliance with the OPCW and launch a strike against Syria. This is plain to see. So the Russians and the Chinese will not buckle.

This puts the onus on Kerry and the other warmongers to justify scrapping the chemical weapons agreement arrived at with the Russians in Geneva, something they are in no position to do given the budget-Obamacare showdown underway in the D.C. beltway. Kerry might be talking tough on Syria but he can't deliver anything. There is no way Obama is going to risk shattering his Progressive base (yet again) in the middle of what is shaping up to be a "final conflict" of sorts with the Bircher Tea Party that leads the House GOP majority.