Does The White House Know What To Do Next In Syria?

Obama Appears At A Loss To Define The Way Forward In Syria -- Major Garrett, National Journal

President Obama did not start the Syrian crisis, and the blood-soaked civil war has never lent itself to easy choices. In fact, the choices have always been among the hardest any U.S. president has faced in the region.

Syria is more than a country, and its civil war is more than a brutal and bloody story of a dictatorial regime pulverizing a largely defenseless civilian population. Syria sits at a strategic crossroads and has for decades been the conduit of cash and operational expertise linking meddlesome Iran to the east with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Obama ran and won on ending the Iraq war and has never had an interest in starting one in neighboring Syria. Neither, for that matter, have U.S. allies Jordan and Israel. For two years, Obama and the Israelis and Jordanians have calculated that Syria's regime--led by Bashir Assad--would cave to outside pressure and not choose ruination for his country's cities, its history, and its people.

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My Comment: Syria's civil war has been ongoing for over two years .... and during this time the U.S. has gone through great lengths to stay out of the conflict. But doubts on what to do next are now starting to surface .... and it is clear from President Obama's recent news conference the administration is unsure on what to do next.