Snowden and Manning taught Americans skepticism, and not a moment too soon. Knowing Congress would not vote to authorize intervention, the Obama administration turned to diplomacy as a face-saving measure, resulting in a rare example of a people rising up to stop a war before it could start.
There is nothing wrong with doing good where you realistically can. Trying to do good by military means where you cannot can be deadly to both you and the victims.
Syria resembles Iraq in many respects. The pretext for the US war on Iraq was its alleged chemical and other weapons programs and stores, which did not exist and which UN inspectors such as Scott Ritter, a former Marine, explicitly said did not exist.
Some eager-to-believe progressives heralded the speech as a momentous change, but Obama's actions are often quite different than his rhetoric
While the acute tensions of the past month appear to be receding - all of the parties involved seem to be taking a step back - the problem is not going to disappear and, unless Washington and its allies re-examine their strategy, another crisis is certain to develop.
Washington's clumsy efforts to de-legitimise Venezuela's election mark a escalation of its push for regime change.
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