Confronted with evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria, President Obama now finds himself in a geopolitical box, his credibility at stake with frustratingly few good options.
The origins of this dilemma can be traced in large part to a weekend
last August, when alarming intelligence reports suggested the besieged
Syrian government might be preparing to use chemical weapons. After
months of keeping a distance from the conflict, Mr. Obama felt he had to
become more directly engaged.
In a frenetic series of meetings, the White House devised a 48-hour plan
to deter President Bashar al-Assad of Syria by using intermediaries
like Russia and Iran to send a message that one official summarized as,
“Are you crazy?” But when Mr. Obama emerged to issue the public version
of the warning, he went further than many aides realized he would.
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