You Break It, You Buy It

This mornings headlines are abuzz (though probably not as much as they should be) with the news President Obama has "condemned the slaughter" in Syria and called on President Bashar Assad to step down.

One question Mr. President, do you intend to actually invade Syria and force President Bashar Assad to step down?  

If not, talk is cheap, and your calls for his resignation will likely harden the position of the pro-Assad populace in Syria who already have a less-than-friendly opinion of the United States.  

If so, you really ought to think about giving that Nobel Peace Prize back, it's kind of a joke at this point.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, Bashar Assad is a brutal dictator, his father was a dictator, and his successor will likely be a dictator.

But does the President really believe that toppling another regime in the Middle East with no legitimate heir apparent or pathway to a peaceful transition of power is in the best national security interest of the United States?

Newsflash, it's not.

On the campaign trail through Iowa this week, the President actually blamed the "Arab Spring" for ruining the "economic recovery"... "bad luck" he called it.

By publicly calling for Assad to step down, the President is once again interfering in the internal affairs of another nation, one that has potential to erupt in a civil war.  

America is already in at least 5 wars , Egypt is unstable (it's likely an anti-Israeli regime will come to power in elections, one that doesn't recognize peace with Israel), the war drums are beating with Iran, and now the President wants to talk tough with Syria?

The President has unilaterally toughened sanctions on the Assad regime, freezing financial assets, barring the importation of any Syrian oil in addition to increased sanctions put in place last week.

Later in the President's statement he said, “the United States cannot and will not impose this transition upon Syria.”  If that were the case, the President would have never called on Assad to "get out of the way."

No one can deny that what Assad has done to his people is abhorrent, inhumane, and a crime against humanity itself.  That does not mean the US calls for Assad to step aside will make anything go more smoothly.