The humiliation of America

So numerous were the omissions, distortions, and flights of extraordinary fancy in President Obama’s Jan. 12 State of the Union address that you’d be hard-pressed to pick the most egregious passage. For what it’s worth, then, I offer my personal selection.

“On issues of global concern, we will mobilize the world to work with us, and make sure other countries pull their own weight,” the president said. “That’s our approach to conflicts like Syria, where we’re partnering with local forces and leading international efforts to help that broken society pursue a lasting peace.”

I was dumbfounded by the notion that Syria is even in a position to “pursue a lasting peace.” With the civil war entering its fifth year, Syria no longer exists as a unified country; that half of its population of 11 million has either been killed or forced to flee is a gruesome testament to that fact and to the unmitigated failure of our policy.

The Iranian and Russian-backed regime of Bashar al-Assad didn’t merit a mention in Obama’s remarks, perhaps because doing so would have reminded the president’s audience that Tehran and Moscow are calling the shots in Syria. Assad’s continued survival is largely down to Obama’s refusal to solidify his vague commitment to a future for Syria without the dictator in place. And while Obama would have us believe that there is no long-term future for Assad, the Russians and the Iranians have put boots on the ground for the express purpose of ensuring that he does have one.

Which brings me to the siege of Madaya, a town to the north of Damascus that was once a winter resort. For over a year, Madaya has been an open-air concentration camp. In early January, photos emerged of some of its 40,000 starving and emaciated residents, who have subsisted on such delicacies as stray dogs and boiled leaves for several months now. There was something of an outcry over these images, enough to persuade the Syrian regime to allow a U.N. aid convoy entry into the town. But its underlying strategy, using the denial of food and medical assistance as a weapon of war, has not changed.