Official: White House seeks Syria response 'just muscular enough not to get mocked'

The Hill ^

[Sub-Driver]

Official: White House seeks Syria response 'just muscular enough not to get mocked' By Justin Sink - 08/28/13 12:45 PM ET

A U.S. official briefed on the military options being considered by President Obama told the Los Angeles Times that the White House is seeking a strike on Syria "just muscular enough not to get mocked."

"They are looking at what is just enough to mean something, just enough to be more than symbolic," the official told the paper, giving credence to similar reports describing a limited military strike in the aftermath of last week's alleged chemical weapons attack.

NBC News reported earlier this week that the administration would launch three days of missile strikes, while CNN cited a senior administration official saying that the White House wanted to conclude any action before the president departs for the G-20 summit next week.

The New York Times also reported that the initial target list drafted by the Pentagon had fewer than 50 sites. The Pentagon has moved four U.S. Navy destroyers off the Syrian coast, which can launch low-altitude cruise missiles at selected sites.

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that no course of action had been decided upon, but that the administration was not seeking "regime change" with its response.

"It is not our policy to respond to this transgression with regime change," he said.

In the U.K., foreign secretary William Hague said at a press conference that the government there was approaching the retaliation in Syria as a "very different situation from Iraq."

"Our government is going about it in an entirely different way," he said.

Meanwhile, Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said Wednesday said his county would turn into a "graveyard of the invaders" if foreign powers intervened in its civil war.

The "colonialist threats" of Western powers "do not terrorize us because of the will and determination of the Syrian people, who will not accept being humiliated," Halqi said, according to AFP.

[musicman]

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[chris37]

Mr. President, what a stupid, little man you are.

[mojito]

So, the Golfer-in-Chief is going to send young men into harms way not to acheive a military objective, but in order to send some sort of “message,” but not too harsh a “message,” and one not clearly related to the national security interests of the US, but one premised on what’s left of the Great Golfers acumen and credibility?

Well, that’s just swell.

[KarlInOhio]

Mock them! We have found an achilles heel. Mock, mock, mock the White House!

Rules for Radical #5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”

Hey, Obama, congratulations for providing al-Qaeda an Air Force. Apparently you killed bin Ladin not to defeat al-Qaeda but rather to make a slot in their org chart for yourself.

[Earthdweller]

1776 Virginia: “Give me liberty or give me a big screen TV and a beer.”
Patrick H

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

"They are looking at what is just enough to mean something, just enough to be more than symbolic,"

To the surprise of not... one... single... Freeper.

[Safetgiver]

Just the SAS and Seals over there to yell, “Boom”. Problem solved.

[Personal Responsibility]

Why are we involved in Syria at all? What makes chemical weapons worse than if Syrian government had dropped a daisy cutter on the rebels?

Also - aren’t the rebels Al Qaeda? Why are we on EITHER of their sides? As far as I am concerned, if two enemies want to kill each other we should let them!

[Safetgiver]

Mock, mock, mock the White House!...Actually, we don’t have to. They do a REAL good job of it themselves.

[Safetgiver]

Just Send...a-hole.

[RKBA Democrat]

Makes you wonder what the Syrian response will be. Will it be “just muscular enough not to get mocked?”

[headless_thompson_gunner]

Indecision may or may not be my problem.

[mbarker12474]

Should we bomb two milk factories this time? Or three? Or just one?

[Hotlanta Mike]

“West behaves towards the Islamic world like a monkey with a grenade.”

I heard Dmitri is working on a spoof of a Peter Gabriel song,,but the new song will be called “Mock the Monkey”

may catch on

---

Sounds like it could be a global hit.

[EternalVigilance]

Apparently you killed bin Ladin not to defeat al-Qaeda but rather to make a slot in their org chart for yourself.

That thought has occurred to me as well.

[RedEyeJack]

The hubris coming from this crew is astounding... The Syrians (and the Russians, Chinese, and Iranians) will get a “vote” on the out come and they may be laying a trap with a very big surprise. I hope the Air bases in Cyprus have full AAW and counter ballistic missile coverage. The overhead assets will be locating all shipping in the eastern MED and the data may get to the CDASMs fast enough for targeting. Sinking a US warship would leave Obama looking like a fool which is certainly on Putin's wish list. Women and children are going to be concentrated around potential TLAM targets so the Chicago Jesus can get a personal lesson in 4th generational warfare.

Stand by... this will be ugly.

[savedbygrace]

"They are looking at what is just enough to mean something, just enough to be more than symbolic."

Then a strongly worded letter would be perfect.

[Venturer]

We have had limited wars, now we want limited strikes.

BULL, BULL, BULL

Either go whole hog or stay the hell out of it.

My vote is stay the hell out of it.

The clown at the rodeo was a lot smarter than the clown in the White House.

[Paladin2]

Start with the Kabaa.

[Paladin2]

"Women and children are going to be concentrated around potential TLAM targets"

Bingo. New hospitals to be built in days.