Rep. Alan Greyson castigated Secretary of State John Kerry's initial reference to Munich in connection with Syria, righteously dismissing Munich as an irrelevant metaphor concerning U.S. national interests.
I don’t think that there’s many people alive who remember Munich right now and properly so, that has nothing to do with this,” Grayson (D-Fla.) told MSNBC on Tuesday.The outspoken Florida Democrat said the situation in Syria is a civil war that was nothing to do with the U.S. or any of its allies.
Our very own
LaFeminista posted a well received
rant righteously blasting Secretary Kerry for "going full Godwin" in the Secretary's continuing campaign to characterize Syria as a Munich moment. Both points are well taken and well made.
My take is a little different. I'm worried. Come out into the tall grass if you want to talk about it.
The Munich metaphor is a staple of U.S. foreign policy discussions and has been for generations. It's meaning is well understood in U.S. diplomacy as an attack, for weakness of will, against those with the temerity to oppose the proposed international intervention du jour. Decorated War Combat Veteran, Secretary John Kerry, is calling out, as lily-livered, the many citizens who are raising questions about U.S. Syria policy.
To make matters worse, this is obviously the President's insult. Kerry is carrying water for his boss. In the first place, his very office exists solely for the purpose of carrying out the President's foreign diplomacy. Moreover, if the President didn't approve of the Munich reference, it wouldn't have happened a second time, on foreign soil.
Does the President think us cowards, those who oppose striking Syria however it is that he has in mind, and who are unwilling to intervene to stop what he sees as a coming calamity? I'm worried that President Obama views that calamity as the willingness of every nation at war or internally, or any sect or faction in conflict, to use whatever poison gas it gets its hands on, anytime, anywhere, with impunity, because nobody stepped up to spank Syria for the use of gas this time, international laws prohibiting that use be damned. As ridiculous as this speculation seems, President Obama is acting like he may believe it.
I worry that President Obama actually believes he is doing the right thing about Syria. If so, there may be no way to stop him. His favorite former President and most influential White House icon is Abraham Lincoln who routinely, as all our Presidents seem wont to do, tossed away thousands of lives in pursuit of belief. If President Obama's intentions here are as fixed as Lincoln's were in his time, we may all be spectators to what lies ahead. I worry that the President does not respect those who oppose him on Syria.
Any metaphorical, diplomatic mention of Munich is an ad hominem attack. As such, it has no place in any legitimate debate on policy merits. It's the kind of thing I would expect from a policy lightweight like Condoleezza Rice or a moral lightweight like Donald Rumsfeld. Shame on Secretary Kerry. Shame on President Obama. They are both capable of much better but I despair that we will see it in Syria.