White House Policy On Syria Is Sending Confusing Signals

Does the Russia-brokered chemical weapons agreement guarantee Assad will stay in power? Reporters are starting to look beneath the surface with questions to State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki about the dictator's 'job security'

So Which Is It Mr. President? White House Calls For Regime Change In Syria For The Seventh Time In Six Months, But Has Said Five Times That The US Isn't Plotting His Downfall -- Daily Mail

* A top White House deputy argued Friday for a resolution in Syria 'that removes Assad from power'
* But at least five times this year, administration officials have insisted they're not working for regime change
* A dozen official statements on the question have been nearly 50-50
* A reporter asked the State Department on Tuesday whether Bashar al-Assad has bought himself 'job security' by agreeing to help dismantle his chemical weapons

A senior White House official told reporters Friday that the Obama administration wants Bashar al-Assad 'remove[d] from power.' But an examination of the government's vacillating position on whether the Syrian dictator must go reveals a schizophrenic policy that has changed at least four times this year.

''There needs to be a political resolution to the civil war that removes Assad from power,' Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said during an on-the-record conference call.

That position has been a consistent theme for eight days, but was preceded by two weeks of White House assurances that the possibility of U.S. military action in Syria was not intended to force 'regime change.'

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My Comment: When a situation like this arises .... it is usually because of a lack of direction and leadership from the top (i.e. the U.S. Secretary of State and the President).