◼ Obama Aide On Syria's Assad: 'If He Drops Sarin On His Own People, What’s That Got Do Do With Us?' - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard
◼ Off-the-Cuff Obama Line Put U.S. in Bind on Syria - New York Times
Confronted with evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, President Obama now finds himself in a geopolitical box, his credibility at stake with frustratingly few good options....
In a frenetic series of meetings, the White House devised a 48-hour plan to deter President Bashar al-Assad of Syria by using intermediaries like Russia and Iran to send a message that one official summarized as, “Are you crazy?” But when Mr. Obama emerged to issue the public version of the warning, he went further than many aides realized he would.
Moving or using large quantities of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” and “change my calculus,” the president declared in response to a question at a news conference, to the surprise of some of the advisers who had attended the weekend meetings and wondered where the “red line” came from. With such an evocative phrase, the president had defined his policy in a way some advisers wish they could take back....
“I’m not convinced it was thought through,” said Barry Pavel, a former defense policy adviser to Mr. Obama who is now at the Atlantic Council. “I’m worried about the broader damage to U.S. credibility if we make a statement and then come back with lawyerly language to get around it.”
◼ ISRAEL STRIKES SYRIA AGAIN - Reuters
Israeli jets bombed Syria on Sunday, rocking Damascus for hours and sending pillars of flame into the night sky in what a Western source called a new strike on Iranian missiles bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Local people reported massive explosions and internet video showed the capital's skyline lit by flashes; Syrian opponents of President Bashar al-Assad rejoiced at Israel's third raid this year, and second in 48 hours, while anger in Tehran highlighted how Syria's civil war risks spinning further beyond its borders.
...Some opposition activists said they were glad strikes may weaken Assad, even if few Syrians have any liking for Israel.
"We don't care who did it," said Rania al-Midania in Damascus. "We care that those weapons are no longer there to kill us."
◼ Samantha Power Must Resign Over Syria - Joel Pollak/Breitbart, The Conversation
Today, the administration has not only refused to act after tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Syria, but now refuses to obey its own "red line" on Syria's chemical weapons....if the Pulitzer Prize that Power won for her genocide writing means anything, if her position as head of the "Atrocities Prevention Board" is not just window-dressing, she must resign in protest over Syria.
"What's that got to do with us?" is not a stance she can tolerate.
◼ Obama says he won't comment on Israeli airstrike - Washington Examiner
◼ Israel bombs Syria — what we know and don’t know - Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion
