It is precisely because of his reluctance, precisely because he doesn’t seem eager to go to war, that it is easier to believe US President Barack Obama. His hesitations over whether to respond to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s war crimes with a military strike evokes much more trust than the arrogant, belligerent speeches of leaders who want to give the impression that they know everything. Any leader who sends his soldiers into battle on behalf of safekeeping of international norms, and not just to defend his country from a real and direct threat, should hesitate.
Obama’s statement last week [Aug. 30] that America is “war weary” was made with a candor that very few world leaders would express publicly on the eve of a military attack. The president, who spent much of his first term trying to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, explained to the American public that “there's a certain suspicion of any military action. … And I very much appreciate that. On the other hand, it's important for us to recognize that when over a thousand people are killed, including hundreds of innocent children, through the use of a weapon that 98- or 99% of humanity says should not be used even in war, and there is no action, then we're sending a signal that international norm doesn't mean much. And that is a danger to our national security.”
