So this is what happens when the United States enters into worthless agreements sponsored by a feckless American President. This is what occurs after that American President drew a line in the sand that his enemy chose to cross – with no consequence. We face this outcome when that American President desperately relies on the Russian Federation – yes, Russia – to bail him out. This is the lesson for our future leaders when a President of the United States, with forethought, chose to rely on the words of Vladimir Putin, of all people, to ensure that the monstrous regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad would no longer chemically murder his fellow Syrians. An American President who foolishly grabbed the thin reed of a September, 2013 “Framework” agreement promising the removal and destruction of chemical weapons in Syria, all in the name of saving his own political face. Feckless American leadership.
This is what transpires after signing a “Framework for the Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons” agreement to remove and destroy all Syria’s chemical weapons. When, in direct contravention of his freshly signed Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), al-Assad thereupon launched a series of chlorine attacks. Oh yes, in response to which that American President did – absolutely nothing.
As President Obama put it: “We can convince friend and foe alike that we are in earnest about the defense of freedom only if we are in earnest.” Actually, no, that was President Kennedy.
Make no mistake. President Trump’s missile strike on the Syrian airbase is about far more than a horrible violation of the CWC. It’s about the beginning of a rebuild of the United States as the bulwark for freedom. It’s about the re-emergence of the world’s greatest hope for peace, liberty and self-determination as a force that will stand in the front, alone if necessary, in the battle to preserve the rights of man.
Feckless American Leadership is a Danger to the World
President Obama either never understood, or understood and chose a different path. The world we actually live in (not the one we dream about) is far more dangerous when America doesn’t lead. But a strong United States has the power and capacity to shape that world and its future direction, and the arc of freedom for a time yet to come. Feckless American leadership weakens the United States. It weakens our friends and allies. And it emboldens our enemies.
When America’s adversaries probe for American weakness and find it, they exploit it. The enemies of freedom and self-determination are implacable. The United States, too, must be implacable. We find ourselves in a war that promises a distant end. But it will surely end badly if the United States prostrates itself. It will end badly if the United States fails to project force and strength for all the world to see. Time and again we see that the stronger the United States is, the less likely its military force will actually be used.
It’s time to remove our collective blinders. One day human beings may peacefully coexist in a multi-cultural world with different value systems. Perhaps. But that time, if it ever arrives, is not now. The United States must express a willingness and a fierce determination when necessary to combat the enemies of peace and freedom, wherever they might reside.
It is more difficult for a democratic nation to sustain its effort over the course of a very long conflict on this dangerous planet we call home. The clarity brought by the horrors of physical world wars is likely not the future that we meet. Rather, our time will be marked by historically unique existential threats through cyber wars and other means. America must not weary just as the challenges become far more difficult and complex.
Time to Lead Again
This is why leaders must lead. The American people have always been willing to make the necessary sacrifices in the names of peace and freedom, provided their leaders can explain with clarity the dangers to be met and the sacrifices to be made. We can ill afford feckless American leadership. We don’t know whether President Trump will exhibit these qualities. Only time will tell. The world needs American leadership. But we can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of past Presidents who could not see, or understand, the gray colors of the real world.
