points of view >> Send letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com Guest Column Editorial Obama's 'Red Lines' On Syria Resemble Zebra Stripes I Noah Beck I f zebras had pink stripes, they would resemble President Obama's "red lines" on Syria. Obama's policy has communicated the follow- ing incoherent and spineless message: "In Libya we intervened to support liberty and prevent a bloodbath; Muammar Gaddafi threatened to hunt down his ene- mies, 'house by house, alley by alley:" Oh, is that what Basher Assad has been doing in Syria? Well, we can't intervene there because it's too risky. True, our isolationism could mean that the post- Assad Syria will — as either a failed or Islamist state — become Al Qaeda's next headquarters, but surely that can't be as bad as U.S. intervention. Oh, are Syrians being slaughtered by the masses? Well, maybe inter- vention is justified on humanitarian grounds, but only if Assad uses chemical weapons. Tens of thousands killed by Assad's mortars, guns, tanks, Scud missiles and warplanes don't suffice. Oh, did the intelligence agencies of our allies (Britain, France and Israel) conclude that Assad used chemical weapons? "Well, we still need the interna- tional community to confirm these findings with a thorough investigation:' As he backtracked on the issue, Obama said, "We don't know how [the chemical weapons] were used, when they were used, who used them" White House officials have conceded that better information is obtainable only if the Syrian govern- ment allows international inspectors on the ground. But the notion of any cooperation from the Syrian regime is absurd given that prior international efforts merely "to monitor" (much less inspect) anything in Syria both times ended after about two months for security reasons. For Obama to obtain the kind of thorough investiga- tion that would trigger his latest "red line he would need to provide the very military commitment that he so obviously wants to avoid with his muddled Syria policy. So his legalistic backpedaling is just a cowardly admission that he's all talk on this issue — a fact that must be painfully obvious to the Syrian people. If the use of chemical weapons is finally confirmed to Obama's satisfaction, what might he do? What Russia and Iran have done from day one of the conflict: pick a side and arm it. Two years later, the U.S. admin- istration may finally decide to supply weapons to those it has claimed to support for the last two years. Or maybe it can even muster the courage to do what tiny Israel has already successfully done twice: pinpointed airstrikes against Assad's military assets. Whatever Obama finally does, it will look like too little, too late. During two years of U.S. dithering, tens of thousands of Syrians have been tortured, slaugh- tered or turned into refugees, with survivors wonder- ing why they're any different from the Egyptians and Libyans who received robust U.S. support when they sought freedom from tyranny. Obama's failure of leadership on the Syrian issue — and the bloody stalemate that resulted — has helped to spawn a new breed of battle-hardened terrorists. They, and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, are all in close proximity to one of the world's largest stockpiles of chemical weapons — the kind of WMD that the intelligence community has obsessed about since 9-11. Strategic blunders aside, U.S. credibility has suffered a serious blow. Obama's "red lines" are more like pink zebra stripes. It turns out that Obama's "game chang- ers" (declared last August) don't change the game at all — they just require new, tough-sounding terminology that can be fudged later. ❑ Noah Beck is the author of The Last Israelis, a military thriller about the Iranian nuclear threat and other Mideast geopolitical issues. aoapbtx • Singles Unite I read a Soapbox posting about Jewish singles needing places to meet, and I think it would be a good idea if the Jewish community would have at the JCC some type of social event for singles to meet. – West Bloomfield I do believe that there should be more Jewish singles events at the JCC, and I'm really looking into if there is a possibility to do speed-dating. – Livonia Is something on your mind? Would you like to respond to one of our editorials, a story in this week's issue or something going on in the community? Let your voice be heard! Call the Soap Box at (248) 351-5146, state your city and start talking! Insecure Borders Cast Middle East In Doubt F or the first time in years, Israel has four borders active with terrorist players tied to fundamentalism and radical Islam – Lebanon, Gaza, Syria and the Sinai. Think about the dynamics of this sea change: The Jewish-Arab conflict in the Middle East has moved from geopolitical to religious. The change that's happening is deep and foundational. The central characteristic of this change, even if it seems banal, is instability and uncertainty," Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the Israel Defense Forces' military intelligence director, told JTA, the New York-based Jewish Maj. Gen. Aviv news service. Kochavi The change is rooted in religious identity overtaking national identity in the Arab world. A byproduct of the change is the way war is fought. No longer does Israel have to fear only nation states; Iran, of course, is the most dangerous state actor. Terrorist groups have come sharply into play. Hezbollah and Hamas, for example, control Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, respectively. The Muslim Brotherhood presides over the Egypt-controlled Sinai. Iran and Hezbollah togeth- er support the shaky Assad regime in Syria, going so far as to amass an army of 50,000 there, but also are preparing for when the brutal dictator falls. Israelis face danger as unstable states in the wake of the Arab Spring scramble to find lasting leader- ship. The Sinai continues to be lawless despite tough- talking Mohamed Morsi's ascension to the Egyptian presidency with Muslim Brotherhood backing. It's a matter of time before Hezbollah re-engages Israel in guerrilla warfare that last ended unsettled (in 2006). Hamas, which Israel battled in 2009 and again in 2012, keeps sending rockets toward Negev cities and towns. Syria's civil war has forced Israel into putting up a fence on the perimeter of the Golan, the stra- tegic high ground. Earlier this month, Israel bombed a weapons convoy it feared was headed from Syria to Hezbollah operatives based in southern Lebanon, near Israel. Religiously inspired terrorist groups are hard to deter. Generally, they are less susceptible to diplo- matic pressure than nation states. And unlike the dic- tators they appear to be replacing, the groups enjoy more popular support. Israel even must worry about its border with the West Bank, governed by the Palestinian Authority, presumably a peace partner, but whose controlling political party is Fatah, which boasts a terrorist wing in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The one calm border is between Israel and Jordan; Jews and Arabs travel regularly between Eilat and Aqaba. With four insecure borders, Israel clearly not only must stay militarily vigilant, but also be aggressive in helping shape policy and direction for the embattled region. Isolationism might seem wise tactically, but helping set the stage toward peace over jihad [reli- gious struggle] obviously is a better bet for Israel. ❑ May 23 • 2013 115