The White House's belief that Syria has used chemical weapons on its own people could be a game-changer for President Obama's policy toward that nation. Peter Feaver Professor of public policy and political science, Duke University Director, Triangle Institute for Security Studiespfeaver@duke.eduhttp://tinyurl.com/ccq6dzg Feaver is expert in U.S. policy and international relations who served in both the President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton administrations. Quote: "The Obama approach to the region has been premised on the claim that the tides of war are receding and that there will be no more Iraqs on his watch. The president has tried strenuously to avoid intervening decisively in the Syrian conflict, but has also established a red line regarding chemical weapons. Now Obama has acknowledged that there is substantial intelligence establishing that chemical weapons have been used in the Syrian conflict. "There are enough ambiguities in the intelligence to leave Obama some wriggle room, and the original red line was vague enough to supply still more wriggle room, but that room is narrowing. "The White House announcement sets in motion a process that could end soon in a game-changing decision: whether to enforce the red line and thus sacrifice the Middle East strategy or whether to leave it un-enforced and thus sacrifice U.S. credibility."
