Blog Stage 3: Substantial Commentary or Criticism #1

The article from The Washington Post titled “Obama’s hallucinatory excuses on Syria” written on October 3, 2016 by Richard Cohen talks about the failures of US policy towards the crisis in Syria, and argues that more action must be taken in order to secure and draw this issue to a close, as well as stating that Obama’s indecisiveness is the main cause of why this issue has lasted so long. It also talks a little bit about Russia’s growing influence in the region, while at the same time noting the fall in influence for the United States, and that eventually this whole issue will spiral out of control.

Richard Cohen is a American columnist for the Washington Post and nominee for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. His intended audience in this article is most likely the citizens of the United States as well as the politicians. From this argument, it is pressing those in charge to put more emphasis on this situation in Syria in order to swiftly solve the problem, as well as attempting to gain more support from the citizens. The author’s arguments primarily targets President Obama, for being “cautious to the point of timidity and prudent to the point of appearing heartless”. This statement essentially means that Obama does not do enough regarding the current crisis in Syria. Richard Cohen expertly uses empathetic statements as a means of persuading his audience, arguing that it is the duty of the United States to assert more influence for humanitarian reasons such as saving lives.

I personally find it extremely hard to pick a side in this topic, primarily due to the fact that this is in the foreign affairs department. Because of this, who knows if the media could be used to manipulate public opinion towards or against this issue (if they aren’t already)? However, if everything stated here is true, I would have to agree with Richard Cohen’s article, and that we SHOULD increase U.S. presence in Syria simply because there are already far too many deaths. While President Obama asks “Is this a situation in which inserting large numbers of U.S. troops will get us a better outcome?” and I completely agree that sending in more military might not be the way to go, there could be other ways, such as sending in more humanitarian aid for the civilians who have been caught in the crossfire. I don’t understand why people use terrible events like the one in Syria to justify and undergo a hidden agenda. Just like Cohen argues, “America does not stand by and watch innocent people get slaughtered”. I think the United States, and every other country in the world should only need one justification for interfering in events like these: to save lives and preserve our race as a whole.