“U.S. President Barack Obama admitted over the weekend that the Assad regime had used chemical weapons, calling this a “game changer.” He added, however, that “we have to act prudently. We have to make these assessments deliberately.”

Obama is in no hurry to go to war.

Obama has plenty of reasons to be cautious. First, by helping the rebels, the U.S. could in fact end up helping al-Qaida jihadists who want to establish a Sunni emirate in Syria and Iraq. Second, memories of the war in Iraq are still planted firmly in American minds. If the U.S. is going to go to war again over weapons of mass destruction, there had better be clear evidence this time. And third, Obama is a president who ends wars (Iraq and Afghanistan), not one who starts them.

Obama and his advisers are completely entitled to raise the Iraq precedent to justify delaying a decision on Syria. The American public will accept this, even though there is increasing domestic pressure on Obama to act in Syria.”

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