All of us ,the free world are in one shape or form guilty in our silence, we always try to move the goal posts by stating 'he/she should be the first strike' and nothing happens except a lot of bla bla, meanwhile we who are sitting on our comfortable sofas can pat ourselves on the back , go to sleep, because after all we have said "what a shame"!!!

Perhaps the author should ask, How many more American have to die in another middle eastern fiasco. After our previous POTUS, you know; the guy with the high school education & a Yale degree, blundered into Iraq & Afganistan & mismanaged 2 wars, the American people are not ready to blunder into another mismanged affair & have indicated that they would want their President th think hard & hear their concerns through their representatives in congress. Until that happens the author of this article has my permission to shoulder his weapon, march into Syria & join his favorite rebel group.

before regional countries such as Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt etc get there heads out of there arses and do something? Why does the world always blame the US? Why does US soldiers always have to die and American tax payers have to spend there own hard working money to fix the worlds problems. To put it bluntly, It is time for others to start doing some heavy lifting for a change. We have had enough period and end of story. It is not our fault and it's not our fight. In other words go "F" yourself and mobilize your own goddamn soldiers.

How many Syrians must die before the religion of peace cleans up it's own messes and quits expecting infidels to do if for them?

Put your anger where it should be. You support an idiot president that opened his big STUPID mouth about something he never should have. Americans don't want another war, and that is what it is called when missles are fired at a your country. Syria has to retaliate against somebody. So, you expect Israel to strike first eh? That tells everybody who you are. Israel should start the war that will bring five muslim countries and world condemnation against themselves? Have a big big glass of kool-aid please. Poor obama right? The world is picking on him.

Why hasn't Israel intervened??? Put your men and women on the line if you feel so passionate about the lives of the Syrian people. America has done everything to give you an army most world powers would envy, yet you sit there and do nothing!!! You don't even allow one single Syrian refugee to cross your borders, yet Israel calls itself a civilized country. Noah Beck, do us a favor and make aliyah, the US is obviously not a land you respect.

before Netanyahu does something about it? Or is there one rule for him and another rule for Obama?

Why should America be involved in this mess at all? Why doesn't the Arab League get involved? I will tell you why because they don't care! The U.S. Should stay out of the middle east and stop trying to help these countries that don't really want their help. They hate the Americans and blame them for all of their problems. It is very sad what is happening over there but it is not America's problem. Just like China and Russia don't want to be involved so should be the same for the U.S. Obama is not spineless just cautious and right about not rushing into this mess.

The previous commentors all had some valid arguments....Obama hasn't been right on any Mid-East policies! He totally screwed up in Libya, exacerbated the misery of the Egyptian people by backing Morsi and his terrorist Brotherhood, and did nothing when the mess in Syria began. This is a Civil War between Muslims....hence, the Muslim Military Powers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey, are the ones that should intervene to save their brothers. Leave Israel out of it!

...because it's already such a well-established fact that he doesn't even have a backbone.

Whether you are right or wrong remains to be seen, but on reading your stuff it sort of reminds me of a cow chewing the cud...it is so boringly repetitive of just one side of the political spectrum

Try getting your facts straight before posting. Israel is providing medical assistance to civilians at the cost to the Israeli taxpayer. Syrians are using Israeli hospitals and Israel is allowing humanitarian assistance in. Go to another site and spread your lies.

However correct the decision to attack Syria may be the President of the United States does not have the legal authority to launch a military conflict against another country that is not a security threat to America without the approval of Congress. Iraq was not threat a to America and we stupidly started a war which cost the lives of 4,000 soldiers with 40,000 badly wounded. The American people are tired of war and that is why 90% of them want America to stay out of Syria. Blame Obama all you want but he cannot send our military all around the world to attack another country unless that country is a threat to America and Syria is not a threat to America.

You make good points but never forget that Israel is right smack bang in the middle of the ME. No matter what Israel will always be treated as the door mat of the ME. If the US strikes Syria, be sure that we here will feel the rath of Hezbullah. Europe & the US will be targeted once again by the Islamic terrorists. If Assad is not punished for using chemical weapons against his own people, be sure, he will use chemical weapons again & again.

Whether he dithers or not is not the point. Most Americans do not want us involved in another Middle East mess, with no effective exit strategy. Obama presumably recognizes this and will not move without congressional consent. It doesn't matter how many thousands are gassed, Americans want no part of it.

Whoa, stop the lies. The famous Rambam hospital in Haifa is now treating wounded Syrian patients. Hopsitals in Nahariya & Safed as well. Best to get your facts straight before you post here.

Yes...I agree...Assad must be punished, but not unilaterally. There should be a cooperative effort, much like the one against Iraq in 1991.... Believe me, I know the situation in Israel, I have two boys going into IDF and family there. No one doubts that Israel will be the line of fire from Syria, Iran, and possibly Russia....Let's pray that it wont happen!

Shana Tovah to you & your sons & family. Russia will not attack Israel! I agree this should be a joint effort, USA & Europe, together need to be side by side in toppling the Assad regime. The latest news is that Obama is promising help to the rebels, after the attack! Why on earth is Obama babbling so much?

The one country in the world that cannot act in this drama is Israel, not unless you really want to start WW III! Hatred of Israel is the one thing that galvanizes and unites Arab nationalists and Islamists. There is no doubt that every western power has severely pressured Israel to do nothing at this point and there is also no doubt that Israel will act if they are attacked. Grow up Cali Cal, study the news don't just read the funnies.

I'm amazed all the israelis and israel are harping on about how spineless America and obama are....You are right next door and doing little to nothing.

Boycott? Divest? That should sort Assad out!

Why Israel hasn't??? I don't recall Bibi dictating any "Red Lines", however the foreign policy expert at 1600 PA avenue did! Should anyone intervene in Syria's civil war? G-d only knows, but the President opened his mouth and placed the credibility of the United States in Jeopardy. That leaves everyone of the US' allies wondering if America's word, the one the president owns, for better or worse, is worth anything. Israel has already taken action on several occasions against the Assad regime when he tried to ship nasty weapons to Hezbollah, it has in fact taken more action against the regime than any other local actor, even more than Turkey's bloviating Erdogan. As none of the actors in the civil war are even remotely interested in peace with Israel, they would be fools to intervene on either side. You could say the same about the United States, but alas, Obama uttered a foolish "red line" statement so now the USA is faced with either acting foolish or looking foolish with the latter having significant political and strategic costs with our enemies and allies and the former likely to cause lives and property loss. So the question is.. will Obama choose to look foolish by not acting or act foolish by acting. He represents all Americans, like or not, and thanks to him, America suffers!

Obama is not a leader. Talk he knows. So does beyonce

"mobilize your own goddamn soldiers", "spineless Israel", etc. Israel is not America. Israel does not need to maintain its deterrence worldwide in order to protect its interests. Israel does not work actively to deter the dictatorships in Iran and North Korea from getting nukes, keep them scared, and lead an international boycott campaign against them, America does. Israel does not have military bases in Arab countries, and is not trying to form a moderate Arab coalition. There are no Israeli oil companies operating worldwide, certainly not in the Arab world. Israel is not in a power competition with Russia and China. In short, Israel does not have to uphold its reputation as the world's strongest superpower. America does. Moreover, Israel cannot intervene in this case simply because it is hated by all Arab regimes, who would not stand the embarrassment of the Jews helping out their fellow Arabs while they do nothing, and therefore would wage a war on Israel and throw the Middle East into chaos (whereas nobody in the Middle East would ever want to f... with America). Besides, nobody is talking about risking American lives, but only an aerial strike, to break down Assad's assets and war machine. How many American soldiers died in the Kosovo war?

Assad is not going to cave in because of a slap on the wrist. He knows if he loses to rebels he is as dead as Kaddafi or Sadam Hussein. So, he will go on using whatever he finds necessary to stay in power.

The reason the Syrian civil war has been going on all along is because foreign troops (Iranians, Sunni jihadists) are joining and because foreign powers (mostly Obama, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey) are flooding Syria with weapons. There has been no one-sided massacre. According to numbers from Sunni forces, 980000 of the 110000 reported deaths are combatants, evenly divided on both sides. There is no peaceful solution because Obama has torpedoed peace talks, despite Putin's entreaties. There has been no evidence presented that Assad used the chemical weapons. It could have been anyone, including Obama's rebels. It's not even certain what chemical agent was used. Why not wait for proof, as Putin has suggested?

In the end ISRAEL will pay for the endless postponements, not America

Netanyahu has attacked supposed Hezbollah targets within Syria. When is he going to intervene to protect Syrian's? Surely to protect Israel he needs to destroy Assad's chemical weapons?

B.S.! Israel raised an army of Holocaust survivors and farmers, armed with weapons left over from WW2, including German ME 109's. America gave Israel nothing, except American Jewish volunteers (my father being one) who wanted to do what they could for the young Israeli army. Israel was attacked 3 times and beat back the arab attackers each time, with no help from America. America, however, got itself involved in 3 wars and LOST each time, unless you consider Iraq and Afghanistan stunning victories. Why don't YOU do US a favor and return your head to that certain part of your body that you pulled it out of!