WarSclerotic

On June 4, France was the first country to conclude with “certainty” that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons in its brutal, never-ending civil war. London rushed to follow suit. No one could remain indifferent to the photos of the horrors perpetrated in the Khan al-Asal district of Aleppo in March. Syrian President Bashar Assad — personally, according to many Western intelligence sources — ordered his army to use chemical weapons. Only Washington refrained from clearly speaking up.

On Wednesday, photos of additional horrors emerged from Syria, this time from the district of Jubar on the outskirts of Damascus. All the evidence suggests that the Syrian army once again used Sarin gas, this time by way of rockets, to target an area where the rebels had made significant gains in recent days. The result, according to the Syrian opposition, was hundreds of casualties, including women and children. The photos are indeed horrifying. Western media outlets had to issue warnings of graphic content before airing the images. Hopefully, if the authenticity of these photos is verified, Washington officials will not be too busy playing golf or cards. If there is an iota of morality left in this hypocritical world, and even though the alternative is not very promising, Assad needs to go.

But Washington is in a real bind. It was just this week that the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, ruled out U.S. military involvement in the Syrian conflict.

Dempsey’s argument is not entirely illogical, considering the alternative that awaits us after the Assad era, but what about the superpower’s word? Did U.S. President Barack Obama not vow to use military might if a red line was crossed, referring to the use of chemical weapons?

This red line was already crossed back in March, when it was proven that the Assad regime had used chemical weapons. But Obama did nothing then. What about now?

The U.S. is currently completely irrelevant in Egypt. It will be a dire situation for them, and for us, when they become irrelevant in Syria as well. Contrary to the Egypt situation, with Syria there are the Russians constantly lurking in the corner. Washington has got to take matters into its own hands. The Americans have enough allies in the region that could help. Isn’t that why Obama coerced Israel to apologize to Turkey? At this rate, Assad will remain in power, and Israeli-Turkish relations will deteriorate again.

Since March 15, 2011, the Syrian situation has gotten steadily worse. More than 100,000 deaths and 1.7 million refugees. No one in the world can claim that they didn’t know.

Assad sees, and understands, that Obama doesn’t want to, or can’t, or simply doesn’t know what to do. His foreign policy record is quite embarrassing. In the meantime, as Assad massacres his people and retains power in Syria, an Egyptian court decides to release deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from prison after clearing him of corruption charges. Mubarak is not finished with the justice system quite yet, but what sweet revenge for a man who gets to leave the man who usurped his seat, Mohammed Morsi, and Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Mohammed Badie, behind him in prison, and more importantly, his immediate successor former Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, now unemployed, who didn’t protect him.

Much like the French revolution, the Egyptian revolution is bringing nothing but harm to the Egyptians.

And above all, Israeli officials should be asking themselves one simple question: What kind of message is Obama conveying to Iran with his conduct in the Middle East?