Democrat discontent with White House Syria policy growing

And it has taken how long to wake up?

Failed foreign policy (one of many) by the amateur. No surprise, really.

No, not surprised. What some deem as the "best president ever" need awakening also. And future history will show the volumes of poor decisions and failures.

Wait, there is a policy Sorry, I couldn't tell.

Is anyone really surprised, I mean, seriously?

Above I see 5 people whining but offering nothing of their own. Its like people are upset that Obama did not don the Iron Man suit and single-handedly solve the Syria problem. Or, perhaps they think he caused it? Of course, Assad, Putin, the people of Syria, and ISIS are all just bit players and Obama could have moved them around like chess pieces if he so desired.

Democrat discontent with the U.S. strategy in Syria is growing, with some of President Barack Obama’s supporters in Congress questioning what he is doing to fight Islamic State militants

Good. Reasonable democrats are finally starting to scratching their heads. What took them so long to wake up? Too busy observing the drama surrounding the gop, but now they'll have to go to the drawing board.

Putin is stepping all over them.

Obama's been cruising on auto-pilot since his last election. What has he proposed? What has he accomplished? (Other than a whole lot of selfies and self-promotion on late-night comedy shows?) The guy just has no credibility in the rest of the world, and is seen as a weak, irresolute empty suit of a politician simply biding time until his "retirement" by foreign friends and foes alike. There's no getting away from the fact that Obama has been terribly remiss in his foreign policy.

Lucky for Democrats, all they need to go back to their blissful sleep of ignorance and unaccountability is to utter their long-standing three-word Fix-All Remedy:

"All. Bush's. Fault."

See? Still works, doesn't it? Even after seven years, Democrats don't feel the need to own anything. ZZZ...

Support of the Arab Spring. Threatening Assad w/o substance. Referring to early ISIS as the JV. Troop withdrawal against expert opinion. Watching the expansion of iSIS and capturing/being presented with US gear, vehicles and arms.

In a desert it's hard to hide. In a desert ISIS has thrived.

Lay off policy.....in retrospect wrong policy. Europe is not happy about it Russia is though. Do many of you prefer a Russian dominated presence in the ME? Let's wait and see the price of oil in a few years with that. Putin's not a humanitarian and suffering will follow.

"All. Bush's. Fault."

See? Still works, doesn't it? Even after seven years, Democrats don't feel the need to own anything.

And when have the Republicans ever accepted responsibility for Bush's eight years of failure?

I wouldn't say Bush had eight years of failure Strangeland. In Bush's first term was a never before major occurrence. I thought he handled it good the first several months. He should have pulled the plug at that time. The housing market was the banks. The stock market was the banks. The $3T is nothing to the tab Obama has run up. At least I see where the Bush money went. Obama money went up in smoke, evaporated, just like it was magically created it vanished with nothing to show.

Economy-failure!

Infrastructure-same.

Rentable energy- seems less now than 8 years ago.

War on poverty lost major ground under Obama. Foreign policy is terrible. Obama care is strangling the the middle class only to increase costs even more. And ISIS bloomed! The crisis in Europe from that. Domestic increased racial tension. Higher taxes. IRS, VA, Benghazi scandals either hidden or squashed with federal employees pleading the fifth ammendment and kept their jobs.

I am looking for a change in just over 13 months and it won't be Madam President unless Carly Fiorina really shines!

So, what should have been done and what should we do now?

One hardly has a case if one cannot or will not answer those.

So, what should have been done and what should we do now?

Obama should've left boots on the ground and maintain a sphere of coalition presence and influence in the gulf. Saddam had been brought to justice, a little later bin Laden. Show them we mean business, not run away with a quasi Iraqi security force left in charge.

What should we do now? Too late. Putin is taking charge. He who dares, wins.

You just proved my point MarkG

@PeaceOut

So, what should have been done and what should we do now?

The fundamental problem is that the US's fortunes are tied to the Petrodollar, and the Petrodollar is guaranteed by the Sunni oil producing states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE). In exchange for pricing their oil in dollars we've pledged to support their foreign policies and corrupt autocratic governments. This puts us at direct odds with the Shia axis of Iran-Syria-Hezbollah.

What SHOULD have been done? Probably in the 90's we should have begun restructuring our economy and government spending to take into account a future absence or collapse of the Petrodollar. This would have enabled us to back away from being tied at the hip to the Sunni's shenanigans of jihad and violence. Instead we blew a gigantic debt bubble in housing and automobiles and maintained a ridiculously oversized military despite the end of the Cold War. The global demand for US Treasuries essentially serves as a tax on the entire planet's economy and enable's the US to spend the interest on all sorts of wasteful crap.

Now let's fast-forward to Obama's options 2011-current. It would have been hard to publicly OR covertly support the Syrian government militarily.

1: NOT supply any aid/funding/weapons to the rebel/insurgent factions in Syria would have clipped their wings early before the conflict tipped beyond the Syrian Army's ability to contain it.

2: Arm and equip the Iraqi Kurds. This would anger both Turkey and Iraq, but Turkey hasn't been cooperating much lately anyway and Iraq is in Iran's pocket already, so nothing of value is lost, but the Kurds could have better held the north of Iraq against ISIS.

3: Instead of calling for a bombing campaign/invasion of Syria after the false-flag Ghouta chemical incident, he should have preempted Putin and argued for a negotiated dismantling of Syria's chemical weapons. That was a huge diplomatic win for Putin. It made Obama and David Cameron look like a couple of warmongers.

4: Pushed humanitarian aid to the government of Syria and NGOs operating there. Housing/construction materials, food, and green energy projects (all US-manufactured of course, good for our exports!) would help to alleviate the humanitarian crisis and provide resettlement options for refugees INTERNALLY, so they don't spill out into everyone else's territory. Just think about how much prefab housing and rice $500 million buys.

PeaceOut:

" Or, perhaps they think he caused it? Of course, Assad, Putin, the people of Syria, and ISIS are all just bit players and Obama could have moved them around like chess pieces if he so desired. "

No, they are not bit players, they are all serious. And "the people of Syria" do not exist; Syria is deeply divided in different faction. But Obama, the genius, has followed a policy of supporting the wrong side, in chasing the pipe dream of "vetted rebels" who are both against Assad and ISIS. And you see the resulting disaster. The only bit player here is Obama, like it or not.

'Democrat discontent with White House Syria policy growing' because election season is coming up, and they've got to get shed of that turkey (the policy, that is).

No skin off Pres. Obama's nose unless he can wangle a chance at a third term.

The only bit player here is Obama, like it or not.

The president of the most powerful country in the world, that has the largest economy, is a bit player.

You just showed that you hate Obama no matter what, and are not able to see objectively.

And when have the Republicans ever accepted responsibility for Bush's eight years of failure?

Living through soon to be 8 and the final year of Barack Hussein Obama. A lesson well learned.

What should we do now? Too late. Putin is taking charge. He who dares, wins.

What do you expect? No one respects Obama, not our enemies and not our allies! The man is more than just a joke, he's the epitome of what it is to be pathetic.

You just showed that you hate Obama no matter what, and are not able to see objectively.

No, we had almost 8 years and if he didn't show us anything now and left a trail of destruction as he went along, NO one could see him in ANY light objectively.

And when have the Republicans ever accepted responsibility for Bush's eight years of failure?

Living through soon to be 8 and the final year of Barack Hussein Obama. A lesson well learned.

And you just proved my point. You complain that liberals don't 'own' anything, yet you cannot admit Bush's failures yourself. You are just showing your bias.

strangeland:

" And when have the Republicans ever accepted responsibility for Bush's eight years of failure? "

And when have Democrats accepted responsibility for Obama`s seven years of failure and counting? Is this kindergarten-level tit for tat that much fun? It never fails to amaze me how some Americans are so blinkered by the party loyalty that they turn everything into some football game kind of team cheering.

Fact is, in regard to the Middle East and islamic jihadist problem, both parties have a history of getting it badly wrong. Another fact is that the current Potus is Obama. These endless party slogans about GWB incarnated are really getting old.

And when have Democrats accepted responsibility for Obama`s seven years of failure and counting? Is this kindergarten-level tit for tat that much fun? It never fails to amaze me how some Americans are so blinkered by the party loyalty that they turn everything into some football game kind of team cheering.

I actually agree - what you have said is the point that I was making. Bass is complaining about democrats not 'owning' up to Obama's failures, yet he is too blinded to see that he does the exact same thing.

American political parties need to learn respect for each other once again, rather than hatred of each other. They spend too much time painting the other as evil, instead of working together for the good of the people and the country.

Strangerland:

" I actually agree - what you have said is the point that I was making. "

If you agree that this tit-for-tat game is childish, why do you engage in it?

Obama was just celebrity and he doesn't have quality of leadership or quality. The President is just like the dummy if you put someone like Obama to President position.

Removing the secular governments from Iraq, Libya and other countries have contributed to the rise of ISIS and so refugees have increased as well.

what he is doing to fight Islamic State militants

Not our problem.

stem the exodus of Syrian refugees

Not our problem.

and find a political solution to the conflict.

Not our responsibility.

Moreover, the U.S. military said a trained Syrian rebel commander had surrendered six trucks and ammunition, supplied by the U.S.-led coalition, to an intermediary linked to the al-Qaida affiliate in Syria. U.S. Central Command said the items — roughly 25 percent of the equipment assigned to that unit — apparently were handed over in exchange for safe passage within the region.

Yep. And this is the way it's always going to be, which is why we should be giving little to nothing.

He said the United States is willing to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to solve the Syrian conflict. But he says bringing about an end to the four-year civil war means Syrian President Bashar Assad cannot stay in office

Yep again. If they want their country back, and if they want our help, then it's reasonable to ask that Assad, the man who started this mess, step down. We don't work for him.

By the way, what are the Republican posters suddenly doing here? For years they ignored the Syrian conflict and now a half dozen of them start posting on a regular basis. Did you suddenly realize that this was another avenue to attack Obama and now you'll be taking up residence? I suppose I should get used to hearing about the US national debt when Assad's name is mentioned from now on. Please lots of cut and paste rhetoric about how a stronger president would have created utopia in Syria by now. Just because strength.

The russians are bombing IS. The obama administration is dumbfounded. Can they figure out a response? Obama sure does talk the "talk". But Putin walks the "walk". What a pathetic Commander-in-Chief, sidelined with his hands tied. Let's not forget that the iranian mullahs will soon be in concert with both the syrians and russians.

Strangerland

Bush's incompetence and Republican fantasies and resultant naysaying are primarily relevant to domestic battles. The president, any president, holds most the cards on foreign policy. So, we can ignore the silly teeth gnashing from the right, for they are largely irrelevant at present.

The truth of the matter is as simple as it is frightening: from a US strategic interest point of view, there is no good path forward on Syria.