The Obama Administration should focus its target on the chemical weapons themselves and push any ideas of punishing Assad back to the International Court in the Hague for the time being.
This way, if the chemical weapons were removed from the region, the Russians could be reminded that this would be good news for them and their Syrian friends, as the rebels won't be able to steal and use Syria's chemical weapons on its own people to gain media attention and outside interference.
So, first option is to push for a resolution to allow the UN to remove or destroy all chemical weapons in Syria. The second option, should Russia and/or China veto the first option, is to use force to destroy as many chemical weapons as possible.
After all, what could be worse for Syria, than to see the rebels steal chemical weapons, then use it on either their own supporters or Syrian troops? It's not like Assad can use these weapons anyway...
well therein lies the problem if we do nothing. If we do nothing, then Assad is free to assume that using chemical weapons is inconsequential to his regime.As I wrote earlier this week, if I could come up with this basic outline, so could many other folks; it's not like I'm the smartest dog in the room. The only question was, how to bring this plan forward. As I said, Cass Sunstein was a big influence on President Obama, so it shouldn't be a surprise if the administration came up with a "nudge". It wouldn't be the first time someone used subterfuge to manipulate others.
I understand that pundits think that there has been a string of missteps in foreign policy, and therefore this was just another case of maladroit handling, rather than a Sunstein nudge. Whatever. The point of careful subterfuge, is to avoid detection and therefore blowback.
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