Everything Old is New Again, Part II

Michael Leeden asks if we’re “Going to War?”

So when you hear stories about the misery Western sanctions are inflicting on the Iranian people, remember that the regime is dispersing a lot of hard currency and a lot of bodies to the Syrian war.  And that comes on top of all the money going to Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and various terrorists and supporters of the Islamic Republic all over Africa and the Middle East, most notably Jordan of late.

The misery of the Iranians, which is real and getting worse, is the result of strategic decisions made by the Iranian tyrants, and their Russian (and often also their Chinese) allies, to arm the mass murderers from Syria to Nigeria.

But few things go according to plan in this life, and in recent weeks some of the most effective Russian weapons have ended up in the hands of Assad’s enemies in the Free Syrian Army.  Last month the opposition forces conquered “Base 46″ in the north, and “liberated” some valuable Russian antiaircraft missiles, the SA-16s, known as “Gimlets.”  Already, one helicopter and one jet fighter have been destroyed by Gimlets.

The FSA are so pleased they are bragging about their ability to create a “no-fly zone” even if the United States continues to withhold effective military training and support.

But don’t forget Khamenei’s (and presumably Putin’s) blank check:  Assad is entitled to use any and all methods to win.  No  surprise, then, when we learn that even the Obama Administration is “concerned” about the possibility that Assad will deploy chemical weapons against the FSA if push comes to shove.  Hillary is warning that the United States might be forced to act (imagine!) if that occurs.  Here she is in her finest stern schoolmarmish mode:

I’m not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people, but sufficing to say that we’re certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur…

I know what you’re thinking, and I quite agree:  what?  Obama is going to war in the Middle East on the basis of “credible information” of the use of weapons of mass destruction?  Do Sy Hersh and his loyal followers at Code Pink know about this?

A Clinton promising regime change in Iraq based on knowledge of Weapons of Mass Destruction? Breakout the Backstreet Boys and Alanis Morissette CDs — it’s time time to party like it’s 1998:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5p-qIq32m8