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Showing posts with the label Syria

The Partisan Divide Has Never Been Wider

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There are two editorials in The Washington Post today. The liberal leaning Fareed Zakaria wrote " Obama on the path to success in Syria " while conservative leaning Michael Gerson titled his piece, " Obama's missteps in Syria lead to retreat ." And so it goes. The Grand Canyon-like chasm that divides along party lines would be laughable if it weren't so pathetically sad. And before I go any further, no, both sides don't do it.  As Steve Benen notes : "I suppose this is about the point at which some will suggest Democrats are equally guilty of playing politics with foreign policy and national security, but recent evidence points in the exact opposite direction.  For much of the Bush/Cheney era, Democrats were, often to the chagrin of their base, willing to be constructive partners with Republicans -- large numbers of Democratic lawmakers voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in large numbers; they backed the PATRIOT Act; and they...

President Obama's Weekly Address - September 7, 2013

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Calling For Limited Military Action In Syria "As the leader of the world’s oldest Constitutional democracy, I also know that our country will be stronger if we act together, and our actions will be more effective. That’s why I asked Members of Congress to debate this issue and vote on authorizing the use of force.    What we’re talking about is not an open-ended intervention. This would not be another Iraq or Afghanistan. There would be no American boots on the ground. Any action we take would be limited, both in time and scope – designed to deter the Syrian government from gassing its own people again and degrade its ability to do so.  I know that the American people are weary after a decade of war, even as the war in Iraq has ended, and the war in Afghanistan is winding down. That’s why we’re not putting our troops in the middle of somebody else’s war.  But we are the United States of America. We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ...