There was a time in my life when I used to read Foreign Policy and think that it was really cutting edge and unbiased, alas this is no longer the case. Eventually I woke up to the fact that Foreign Policy is the mouth piece of the warmongering bipartisan foreign policy establishment in Washington. James Traub is an excellent example of the kind of fools that Foreign Policy employs. He is a fellow at the Center on International Cooperation which is like all the other establishment Beltway think tanks. In his weekly column, Terms of Engagement, he attempts to show how it is now time for President Obama to really get involved in Syria. Traub hardly hides his imperialist reasons for why Obama should start massively arming the rebels
The rebels have been forced again and again to break off battles they might otherwise win for lack of ammunition and firepower. With anti-aircraft capability, the rebels could create a safe haven on their own. With anti-tank missiles, they night quickly turn the tide in other disputed areas.
The United States has a profound interest not only in bringing the slaughter in Syria to an end, but in having a meaningful presence on the ground when that happens — as it did in Libya thanks to the NATO air campaign. It will not be easy, under any circumstances, to prevent Syria from collapsing into religious and ethnic enclaves, or into a war of all against all. But if Washington remains on the sidelines, as it has until now, it will have little influence with those who will ultimately prevail, and thus little ability to help shape the post-Assad landscape.
Obama might decide to postpone the decision until after the election, but that would be an act of consummate cynicism. He should act now, before it’s too late.
Porkins Policy Review 