Syria: Obama's legacy outweighs lives lost?

The constant news and debate regarding Syria and more recently Syrian refugees to be accepted by the U.S. has been nonstop. The debate includes the question of President Obama’s plan (or lack thereof) in dealing with the Syrian crisis and related war on terror.

From my perspective, administration rhetoric concerning President Bashar al-Assad’s removal in Syria is a head fake intended for consumption by the U.S. public. The famous red line issue on chemical weapons and refusal to establish a no-fly zone early are indications there was no real plan but only an illusion of a serious attempt to remove Assad.

In reality, the Obama administration constrained any serious measures in order not to ruffle Assad’s facilitators - the Iranian regime - while pursuing a shaky nuclear agreement not supported by U.S. public opinion.

I wonder how many innocent Syrian refugees could have been saved from carnage exacted by Assad with his ongoing barrel-bombing campaign among other aerial atrocities with a simple no-fly zone (no boots on the ground).

It’s a real shame when the illusion is all about Obama’s legacy as a dealmaker with Iran. How many Americans really care about his legacy with more than 250,000 lives lost?

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 11:21 AM with the headline "Syria: Obama's legacy outweighs lives lost?."