Zogby Report Card: Confused Obama Flunks Syria 101

Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Pollster John Zogby reports in our weekly White House report card that President Obama, deserted by the public and Britain on Syria, is holding an office that’s not as powerful or influential as it used to be.

“Mr. President. I have been doing a lot of thinking about your term project on Syria. When you first approached me about the topic, you said that a president of the U.S. had no good options. The U.S. cannot topple Syrian President Assad because there would be more chaos in the country and the region — like Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan (not to mention Yemen and Tunisia).

“While there was pressure from congressional hawks to help the rebels, you were saying that the rebels could be dangerous and inimical to the U.S. and regional interests. You were then arguing that the U.S. involvement would bring no positive gain.

“Then you suggested that the U.S. must arm the ‘good’ rebels, without clarifying who they were and what you meant by ‘help.’ In the last few weeks, your term paper shifted its thesis to backing a limited surgical intervention to send a strong moral message to Assad and the world that we (citizens of the world) could not tolerate the use of chemical weapons, especially against the most innocent of victims…