Tuesday, September 10, 2013

A Brief Thought Regarding Syria

Like many of you, I've been concerned over many of the potential ups and downs regarding a possible attack on Syria from the U.S. government over the possible use of chemical weapons against their own people.  While President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry spent the last week or so pushing for a limited military strike against Assad's targets, things may be changing for a couple of fronts as Obama decided late last week to go to Congress before acting on his desire to enact a military strike that seems murky at best as to what their goals are and what may blow back as a result.

In the past day, it appears things may take a different path when an apparent offhanded remark about Syria turning over chemical weapons to international control by John Kerry led to a Russian proposal that Syria reportedly agreed to.  While this has delayed the vote in Congress while the Obama administration reviews the proposal, it has created a possible step away from a seemingly inevitable attack that the majority of Americans opposed to some degree,  Whether this is due to the threat of a military strike (as the Obama administration has claimed) or that the votes simply weren't there in Congress remains to be seen in the long run.

At this point it's hard to say what will happen.  The UN weapons inspectors haven't released their report (which could prove chemical weapons attacks and who used them) so that could impact things.  In addition, the review of the Russian proposal could also change how things unfold.  While this could be a step towards an actual diplomatic solution to the situation in Syria, circumstances could change at any time. 

Right now, things have come a long way but only time will tell what will happen in this situation.