Eliot Cohen has a deplorable record as a neoconservative academic who advised Condooleeza Rice and Dick Cheney before and after the disastrous invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Eliot is coyly mum here on whether he thinks Obama should send U.S. troops into Syria.
Nevertheless, the man who favors "preemptive war" is giving a wise preemptive warning (that's redundant) to U.S. policymakers: we can't lob a few missiles into Syria and hope to change anything there.
We ought to stay out of it entirely.
UPDATE (28.08.2013): Looks like the US and UK, at least, are going to war with Assad in Syria. They want to do a limited Kosovo-style air war with "punitive military strikes." That's the key phrase. They're not pretending that these strikes will affect the direction of the civil war or even prevent more civilian casualties; the West just wants to slap Assad on the wrist for his alleged use of chemical weapons in violation of international law.
This seems like a desperate attempt to remain relevant on the international stage without actually doing anything.
UPDATE (28.08.2013): Looks like the US and UK, at least, are going to war with Assad in Syria. They want to do a limited Kosovo-style air war with "punitive military strikes." That's the key phrase. They're not pretending that these strikes will affect the direction of the civil war or even prevent more civilian casualties; the West just wants to slap Assad on the wrist for his alleged use of chemical weapons in violation of international law.
This seems like a desperate attempt to remain relevant on the international stage without actually doing anything.
By Eliot A. Cohen
August 26, 2013 | Washington Post
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