The Speech 

It is the day after Obama's speech to the country on Syria. Military action has been postponed, perhaps permanently, an outcome most conservatives wanted. Yet, I doubt many of us woke up happy this morning. I know I did not.

It is not a happy experience to watch your country drown under the accumulating weight of Obama's mistakes. Certainly I have no doubt he would have failed implementing his Syria strikes, and he likely would have empowered our enemies in the process. 

Since the end of World War II, the goal of every U.S. president has been to keep Russia and its influence out of the Middle East. Now we have a president who welcomes Russia in so that he can avoid the consequences of his rash rhetoric. 

The "big man" on the world stage now is Vladimir Putin. His "bigness" grows as Obama shrinks. Should we really believe the country that has armed Syria for decades will now disarm it? In the last 24 hours, Putin made it clear that the price for his cooperation with Obama would be a U.S. pledge of pacifism in the future. 

Meanwhile, Russia is stepping up the shipment of conventional arms to Assad, guaranteeing the Syrian civil war continues. And he isn't stopping with the rearming of Assad. 

A Russian government "mouthpiece" newspaper in Moscow reports this morning that Putin will now complete the sale of sophisticated S-300 air defense missiles to Iran and is also willing to help build a second nuclear reactor for the Bushehr nuclear plant. 

Here is our "Hobson's Choice:" We can withdraw from the world and leave it to the tender mercies of Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, etc. Or we can try to judiciously and wisely defend our interests and those of our allies under a commander-in-chief who is incoherent, clueless and feckless about how the world works. 

The first choice is unthinkable. The second choice will likely end in failure. In either case, the cause of our nation and of our values will be grievously harmed and the world will be a more dangerous place.

An Inept Foreign Policy 

The Obama Administration seems to be making its foreign policy based on slips of the tongue rather than coherent positions or values. Just over a year ago, Obama set his famous "red line" on Syria, saying: 
 

• "We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.  That would change my calculus."

That was Barack Obama in August 2012, in the heat of his reelection campaign. Perhaps that's the context in which we should consider that statement -- not as a matter of principle, but just a tough-sounding, campaign sound bite he had no intention of acting upon. 

A serious president would have dispatched top national security and diplomatic officers to key allies last August, asking if they were prepared to stand with us in the event that the Syrian regime used banned weapons of mass destruction.

It was painfully clear when Assad crossed the red line that Obama had not done the preliminary ground work with our allies. Too busy playing golf probably. 

Save The Innocent Children 

Whatever position one has on Syria, everybody's heart breaks when we see children dying in agony from the use of chemical weapons. 

Last night, Barack Obama invoked children more than half a dozen times with phrases like, "Assad's government gassed to death over a thousand people, including hundreds of children," "A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk," and "reconcile your belief in freedom and dignity for all people with those images of children writhing in pain, and going still on a cold hospital floor."

Those are powerful images meant to stir righteous indignation. Yet I couldn't take Obama's imagery at face value without thinking about his record when it comes to the death of innocent children. 

The man who spoke to the nation last night is the most aggressive proponent of the wholesale destruction of innocent children through abortion on demand to ever occupy the Oval Office. 

He praises those who profit from destroying those children. He demands that your tax money be used to subsidize the destruction of those children. He has shamelessly asked God to bless the businesses that destroy those children. And he accuses anyone who questions his morality of "waging war against women." 

Four hundred twenty-six Syrian children tragically died in that horrible chemical attack, which is an atrocity. Today in Obama's America more than 3,000 innocent little children will either be dismembered or burned to death with saline or worse in order to ensure they never take the first breath of life outside the womb. 

Any thoughts, Mr. President? 

9/11 -- 12 Years Later 

It is hard to believe that it has been twelve years since the 9/11 attacks. As many of you know, I had a "front row" seat to the attack, as I was sitting in my car stuck in a traffic jam, right next to the Pentagon when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building.

I recalled this morning how much misinformation was reported as the attacks unfolded. Looking to my right, I could see the Pentagon in flames. I knew the World Trade Center towers had been hit. 

Then came reports on the radio that fire and smoke was seen in the vicinity of the White House. (The reporter was seeing the inferno at the Pentagon. But from her angle, it appeared to be the White House.) For a time, it seemed like the whole country was going down. It was truly a day of great anxiety and sorrow. 

Sadly, there are two tragic anniversaries today. The September 11, 2001, attacks were answered by George W. Bush, who showed the world that the United States could not be attacked with impunity. 

This is also the first anniversary of the attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which claimed the lives of four brave Americans, including our ambassador. Those attacks were followed by false explanations and feeble inaction.