{"id":102083,"date":"2016-07-24T08:25:42","date_gmt":"2016-07-24T16:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=102083"},"modified":"2016-07-24T08:25:42","modified_gmt":"2016-07-24T16:25:42","slug":"neo-con-experts-to-obama-here-is-what-to-do-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=102083","title":{"rendered":"Neo-Con Experts to Obama: Here Is What to Do in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Twitter user #thelatempire notes<\/a>: “Syria war has been the most globally destabilizing event since 9\/11.”<\/p>\n

So who pushed for this disaster?<\/p>\n

Weekly Standard 8\/27\/13<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Dear Mr. President:<\/p>\n

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has once again violated your red line, using chemical weapons to kill as many as 1,400 people in the suburbs of Damascus. You have said that large-scale use of chemical weapons in Syria would implicate \u201ccore national interests,\u201d including \u201cmaking sure that weapons of mass destruction are not proliferating, as well as needing to protect our allies [and] our bases in the region.\u201d The world\u2014including Iran, North Korea, and other potential aggressors who seek or possess weapons of mass of destruction\u2014is now watching to see how you respond.<\/p>\n

We urge you to respond decisively by imposing meaningful consequences on the Assad regime. At a minimum, the United States, along with willing allies and partners, should use standoff weapons and airpower to target the Syrian dictatorship\u2019s military units that were involved in the recent large-scale use of chemical weapons. It should also provide vetted moderate elements of Syria\u2019s armed opposition with the military support required to identify and strike regime units armed with chemical weapons.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the United States and other willing nations should consider direct military strikes against the pillars of the Assad regime. The objectives should be not only to ensure that Assad\u2019s chemical weapons no longer threaten America, our allies in the region or the Syrian people, but also to deter or destroy the Assad regime\u2019s airpower and other conventional military means of committing atrocities against civilian non-combatants. At the same time, the United States should accelerate efforts to vet, train, and arm moderate elements of Syria\u2019s armed opposition, with the goal of empowering them to prevail against both the Assad regime and the growing presence of Al Qaeda-affiliated and other extremist rebel factions in the country.<\/p>\n

Left unanswered, the Assad regime\u2019s mounting attacks with chemical weapons will show the world that America\u2019s red lines are only empty threats. It is a dangerous and destabilizing message that will surely come to haunt us\u2014one that will certainly embolden Iran\u2019s efforts to develop nuclear weapons capability despite your repeated warnings that doing so is unacceptable. It is therefore time for the United States to take meaningful and decisive actions to stem the Assad regime\u2019s relentless aggression, and help shape and influence the foundations for the post-Assad Syria that you have said is inevitable.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Ammar Abdulhamid<\/p>\n

Elliott Abrams<\/p>\n

Dr. Fouad Ajami<\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Auslin<\/p>\n

Gary Bauer<\/p>\n

Paul Berman<\/p>\n

Max Boot<\/p>\n

Ellen Bork<\/p>\n

Ambassador L. Paul Bremer<\/p>\n

Matthew R. J. Brodsky<\/p>\n

Dr. Eliot A. Cohen<\/p>\n

Senator Norm Coleman<\/p>\n

Ambassador William Courtney<\/p>\n

Seth Cropsey<\/p>\n

James S. Denton<\/p>\n

Paula A. DeSutter<\/p>\n

Larry Diamond<\/p>\n

Dr. Paula J. Dobriansky<\/p>\n

Thomas Donnelly<\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Doran<\/p>\n

Mark Dubowitz<\/p>\n

Dr. Colin Dueck<\/p>\n

Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt<\/p>\n

Ambassador Eric S. Edelman<\/p>\n

Reuel Marc Gerecht<\/p>\n

Abe Greenwald<\/p>\n

Christopher J. Griffin<\/p>\n

John P. Hannah<\/p>\n

Bruce Pitcairn Jackson<\/p>\n

Ash Jain<\/p>\n

Dr. Kenneth Jensen<\/p>\n

Allison Johnson<\/p>\n

Dr. Robert G. Joseph<\/p>\n

Dr. Robert Kagan<\/p>\n

Lawrence F. Kaplan<\/p>\n

Jamie Kirchick<\/p>\n

Irina Krasovskaya<\/p>\n

Dr. William Kristol<\/p>\n

Bernard-Henri Levy<\/p>\n

Dr. Robert J. Lieber<\/p>\n

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman<\/p>\n

Tod Lindberg<\/p>\n

Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken<\/p>\n

Dr. Michael Makovsky<\/p>\n

Ann Marlowe<\/p>\n

Dr. Clifford D. May<\/p>\n

Dr. Alan Mendoza<\/p>\n

Dr. Joshua Muravchik<\/p>\n

Governor Tim Pawlenty<\/p>\n

Martin Peretz<\/p>\n

Danielle Pletka<\/p>\n

Dr. David Pollock<\/p>\n

Arch Puddington<\/p>\n

Karl Rove<\/p>\n

Randy Scheunemann<\/p>\n

Dan Senor<\/p>\n

Ambassador John Shattuck<\/p>\n

Lee Smith<\/p>\n

Henry D. Sokolski<\/p>\n

James Traub<\/p>\n

Ambassador Mark D. Wallace<\/p>\n

Michael Weiss<\/p>\n

Leon Wieseltier<\/p>\n

Khawla Yusuf<\/p>\n

Robert Zarate<\/p>\n

Dr. Radwan Ziadeh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Twitter user #thelatempire notes: “Syria war has been the most globally destabilizing event since 9\/11.” So who pushed for this disaster? Weekly Standard 8\/27\/13: Dear Mr. President: Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has once again violated your red line, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29611,29639],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-neoconservatives","category-syria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t