


Libyan No-Fly Zone (2011)
Obama's Wavering Red Line Over Syria

You know you're in trouble when you can't even get your walk-back story straight. Stung by the worldwide derision that met President Barack Obama's fudging and fumbling of his chemical-weapons red line in Syria, the White House leaked to The New York Times that Obama's initial statement had been unprepared, unscripted and therefore unserious. The next day Jay Carney said precisely the opposite: "Red line" was intended and deliberate. Which is it? Who knows? Perhaps Obama used the term last August to look tough, sound like a real world leader, never expecting that Syria would do something so crazy. He would have it both ways: sound decisive but never have...