UPDATE(s) – As predicted earlier today: Harry Reid has cancelled Senate vote authorizing President Obama to take military action. AND President Obama backs off Red Line and says he’s open to “diplomatic tack”.
The reasons WHY are evidenced as they were previously outlined below:
After 10 straight days of pressure from President Obama’s team, the request for congressional authorization is failing miserably. All intellectually honest DC operatives, pundits et al, are all in agreement any vote in House of Representatives would fail horridly, and passage in the Senate is doubtful at best.
President Obama will not allow a vote call upon either chamber that he knows would fail. [Unless, of course, the vote failure was to his benefit – that’s not the case on this Syrian authorization]. Harry Reid will not call a vote in the Senate which would embarrass or humiliate President Obama.
That said, now the issue becomes how to get President Obama out from his self inflicted plunge under his own bus. This phrase, which will eventually come from the mouth of Obama, is what all political efforts are working toward:
“I was never for militarily attacking Syria, I always wanted a peaceful solution”.
Obama needs to position himself as being reluctantly dragged toward conflict now. He needs to make the case that *HE* did not want to attack Syria, the global demands of humanity were forcing him to threaten Assad.
President Obama needs a soft landing to save face – to find a soft landing you need to receive a ‘soft message’ from your adversary. Russia knows this.
Russia and Syria know there is no popular support for Obama. Russia knows from decades of experience inside the U.S. exactly what the internal public opinion does to any administration; and most importantly Russia knows what is described above as to what POTUS protectors are doing to safety net President Obama. Hence…. (more…)
(Via GWP) JihadWatch reports the following:
Confirmation from the White House itself that John Kerry was lying when he said that the number of countries supporting the U.S. had reached “double digits.” “White House Admits It’s a Coalition of One,” by Patrick Brennan at National Review, September 8:
When asked this morning if the U.S. has any pledges of military support for strikes in Syria, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough emphasized that the G20 and other nations have made supportive condemnations of the Syrian government’s actions, but repeatedly pressed by CNN’s Candy Crowley, provided no examples of countries that have endorsed or will provide personnel or equipment for a military intervention.
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Rebels including al-Qaida-linked fighters gained control of a Christian village northeast of the capital Damascus, Syrian activists said Sunday. Government media provided a dramatically different account of the battle suggesting regime forces were winning.
It was impossible to independently verify the reports from Maaloula, a scenic mountain community known for being one of the few places in the world where residents still speak the ancient Middle Eastern language of Aramaic. The village is on a UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites.
The rebel advance into the area this week was spearheaded by Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, exacerbating fears among Syrians and religious minorities about the role played by Islamic extremists within the rebel ranks. (more…)
With all my strength, I ask each party in the conflict not to close themselves in solely on their own interests. #prayforpeace
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 5, 2013
Since when have red lines mattered to this president? These certainly didn't. #tcot #benghazi #syria #uniteblue #p2 pic.twitter.com/R2ftGTMbEt
— Stig is posting his L's again (@HesNotTheStig) September 6, 2013
Via Shadi Hamid, is the Director of Research at the Brookings Institute’s Doha Center:
Newspaper also claims that son of MB leader threatened Obama w- release of "papers" revealing his MB membership: https://t.co/x4lV2JdS91
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) September 1, 2013
If you missed it, "liberal" Egyptian newspaper has front page headline claiming Obama as full-on member of Muslim Brotherhood international.
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) September 1, 2013
In related news – the Eyptian interim government is reconsidering going back to the ban on the Muslim Brotherhood due to their entrenched terrorism. It should not be forgotten the Brotherhood killed former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat which was the final straw the last time they were an allowed political entity.
Every single move our President takes is determined by political winds…..
Wow. Just wow. The speech by President Obama this afternoon was just staggeringly unreal. Bizzarro World Type pretzel contortions. The speech was short, but in a surprising twist Obama announced he will seek congressional authority on attacking Syria even though he believes he has the authority to go ahead with strike. (this really is must watch stuff – even if you find yourself challenged to stick with it through the absurd nature of what you are bearing witness to)
