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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums“Credibility”
by emptywheel
An embarrassing number of people in DC have been saying publicly since Friday that we have to launch cruise missiles against Bashar al-Assad or risk the credibility of the United States. John McCain. Mike McCaul. Adam Schiff. Former NSC staffer Barry Pavel.
But this WSJ piece after describing how central the Saudis were in presenting earlier claims that Assad had used chemical weapons and in the midst of descriptions of how central a role Bandar bin Sultan is playing in drumming up war against Syria reports that Saudi King Abdullah and others were bitching about US credibility as early as April.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who was the first Saudi official to publicly back arming the rebels, followed with a similar message during a meeting with Mr. Obama later that month, the officials said.
I wonder if we started taking Saudi taunts about our credibility more seriously after Bandar made a show of wooing Vladimir Putin?
In any case, here we go, hastily getting involved in the war in Syria and potentially escalating it across the region as a whole, without proper review much less a plan on how to actually improve the situation in Syria.
Credibility.
Apparently, the only kind of credibility that matters for Americas place in the role anymore is if our Saudi overlords suggest we lack credibility if we fail to do their explicit, and long-planned, bidding.
Credibility.
Meanwhile think of all the things American has squandered its position as unquestioned leader of the world without confronting. Poverty, hunger. The most obvious, of course, is climate change.
- See more at: http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/08/26/credibility/
GeorgeGist
(25,318 posts)Absolutely!
Octafish
(55,745 posts)...at the casino.
PLUSH: THE DINING FACILITIES ON BOARD
SAUDI PRINCE AL-WALEED BIN TALALS PRIVATE BOEING 747
BTW, anyone seen Bandar Bush lately?