STORY SUMMARY

One of the worst recurring features of U.S. foreign policy is a process that might bluntly be described as “seduction and abandonment”.

On June 13, the White House announced it would provide military aid to the Syrian opposition because the Assad regime had crossed a “red line” by using chemical weapons.

To quote a New York Times story published last weekend, it turns out “that the administration’s plans are far more limited than it has indicated in public and private”.

Imagine for the moment that you are a Syrian rebel fighter who has been risking his life for two years in the hope that Obama was sincere about helping a moderate opposition prevail not just against Assad but against the jihadists who want to run the country.

Having spent hundreds of billions of dollars to stop Al-Qaeda in faraway Afghanistan, you might think the U.S. would try to check the terrorist group in Syria, but no.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2013/Jul-18/224069-syrians-learn-to-trust-the-us-at-their-own-peril.ashx#ixzz2ZNlcGOI1
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)