Having willfully avoided direct military involvement in Syria for the past two years, Barack Obama may not be so lucky over the next two. Reports that Bashar al-Assad's forces may have used chemical weapons will almost certainly force the president's hand into a course of action that takes the U.S. beyond the  humanitarian assistance to refugees and the non-lethal aid and training  it's provided to  the rebels. What Obama does on Syria flows directly from what he wants to achieve, or more to the point, what he wants to avoid. And in this case, that means a slippery slide toward military involvement in Syria that incrementally sucks America in without a clear sense of an end game. Indeed, it's been the president's inability to see that end state that has been the single greatest constraint on his willingness to become more involved.
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Aaron Miller says President Obama has no good choices on Syria
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He says U.S. would probably provide arms to elements of the opposition
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That is the least risky course but still could mean a slippery slide toward war, he says
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Miller: Obama rightly wants to avoid the risks, bloodshed, cost of another war
And Obama's priorities reflect the desires of the @placeholder people, which run to fixing America's own broken house, not chasing around the world looking for others to repair.
And Obama's priorities reflect the desires of the American people, which run to fixing @placeholder's own broken house, not chasing around the world looking for others to repair.