What Will The World Look Like In 2017?

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

The Big Chide -- Matthew Continetti, Washington Free Beacon

Column: What will the world look like in 2017?

“U.S. Chides Syria on Missed Chemical Arms Deadlines”

—New York Times, January 30, 2014

Say goodbye to the big stick. Say hello to the big chide.

Five months ago, you will recall, President Obama was preparing to launch military strikes against Bashar al-Assad. The strikes were averted when the Russians, seizing on a gaffe by Secretary of State John Kerry, proposed a deal in which Assad would give up his WMD if the United States did not bomb.

How are things working out? Well, who could have predicted it, but this week we learned that Assad has retained 95 percent of his WMD stockpile while continuing to miss the deadlines to hand over his weapons. More than 125,000 Syrians are dead, millions more are displaced, and al Qaeda affiliates claim jurisdiction over much of the country.

The conflict has drawn thousands of foreign fighters from 50 countries into Syria, foreign fighters who have every intention of bringing the jihad back home when they return to Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States. The Syrian chaos has spilled over into Lebanon and into Iraq, where ethno-sectarian conflict has resumed and al Qaeda has reappeared.

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My Comment: I concur with the above commentator's analysis that there is a disconnect between White House announcements and what is happening in the rest of the world. And what is frightening .... is that if you read the foreign press like I do .... almost everyone outside the U.S. is also beginning to realize this fact. I know that this is not permanent .... and while it is easy to blame President Obama for this situation .... the reality is that he is reflecting (and acting) upon the opinion of a majority of the American public .... and that is to not get involved in another major war.