How these Obama administration officials can continue to balance such sizable obfuscations on the tip of a pin is beyond my comprehension.    Al-Nusra Front is the jihadist arm of al-Qaeda in Syria.

The Al Nusra Front jihadists’ fight alongside, and with, the Free Syrian Army.   Their goals and agenda is exactly the same.  Yet somehow, Secretary Kerry can ideologically parse the FSA as good, and Al-Nusra as bad, and somehow conflate that to claim some kind of U.S. engagement policy will benefit the FSA but yet carve out no benefit for Al-Nusra.

It is important to note in December 2012 the U.S. Administration labeled Al-Nusra Front as a “Terrorist Organization” :

(Via New York Times)  WASHINGTON — The United States has formally designated the Al Nusra Front, the militant Syrian rebel group, as a foreign terrorist organization. (link)

(via iOTW) Himes and Blumenthal held a Townhall meeting today at the Darien, Connecticut  Library to discuss with their constituents whether going to Syria is in  Connecticut citizens’ best interest or not.

The room was packed but there was no real discussion that led Blumenthal or  Himes to see things differently, it was more Kabuki theater, with neither ceding  an inch of their steadfast hawkish beliefs. Blumenthal and Himes then informed  the citizenry that the support and opposition for the war was a mixed bag of  opinion, creating the illusion that their opinions are not out of lockstep with  the voters. (more…)

Here’s the White House S.P.I.N….. 

WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of State John Kerry told a closed meeting of House lawmakers that the Russian government is only seeking to help Syria because they believe the U.S. is serious about taking military action, according to multiple sources present.
The comment, which came in a classified briefing of the full House on Monday, mirrors public comments by other Obama administration officials: the threat of a military attack is working to bring the Russians to the negotiating table.
After enduring days of brutal skepticism from lawmakers of both parties, Kerry and other administration officials wasted no time in attempting to link Russia’s proposal to the pressure coming from the White House. Democratic lawmakers agreed.
“This suggestion today by [the Russians] about bring the chemical weapons Assad has under control, I think it’s a direct result of the president saying he’s ready to do whatever is necessary to back up what he’s already said,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said. (link)

All day long the pundits and talking heads on all the major networks have been talking about this unprecedented media push by President Obama. Almost all of them proclaiming amazement about President Obama talking to “Six” count them, S.I.X, TV broadcasters.
Well, it’s not quite what the White House would have you believe…..

I think the media got out foxed by the White House — each gets 7 minutes? That is really nuts. You can’t get information about an important issue like war in 7 minutes. If the President gives a long answer to the first question, you are cooked…time is up!
What the media should have done is asked to have the time combined – 42 minutes – and then pick out of a hat who did the interview from this group of 6 and let ALL NETWORKS use the interview like a pool interview. (Via Gretawire)

UPDATE(s) – As predicted earlier today: Harry Reid has cancelled Senate vote authorizing President Obama to take military action.   AND President Obama backs off Red Line and says he’s open to “diplomatic tack”.
The reasons WHY are evidenced as they were previously outlined below:

After 10 straight days of pressure from President Obama’s team, the request for congressional authorization is failing miserably.    All intellectually honest DC operatives, pundits et al, are all in agreement any vote in House of Representatives would fail horridly, and passage in the Senate is doubtful at best.
President Obama will not allow a vote call upon either chamber that he knows would fail.  [Unless, of course, the vote failure was to his benefit – that’s not the case on this Syrian authorization].  Harry Reid will not call a vote in the Senate which would embarrass or humiliate President Obama.
That said, now the issue becomes how to get President Obama out from his self inflicted plunge under his own bus.   This phrase, which will eventually come from the mouth of Obama, is what all political efforts are working toward:

“I was never for militarily attacking Syria, I always wanted a peaceful solution”.

Obama needs to position himself as being reluctantly dragged toward conflict now.  He needs to make the case that *HE* did not want to attack Syria, the global demands of humanity were forcing him to threaten Assad.
President Obama needs a soft landing to save face – to find a soft landing you need to receive a ‘soft message’ from your adversary.   Russia knows this.
Russia and Syria know there is no popular support for Obama.  Russia knows from decades of experience inside the U.S. exactly what the internal public opinion does to any administration;  and most importantly Russia knows what is described above as to what POTUS protectors are doing to safety net President Obama.   Hence….   (more…)

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Rebels including al-Qaida-linked fighters gained control of a Christian village northeast of the capital Damascus, Syrian activists said Sunday. Government media provided a dramatically different account of the battle suggesting regime forces were winning.

It was impossible to independently verify the reports from Maaloula, a scenic mountain community known for being one of the few places in the world where residents still speak the ancient Middle Eastern language of Aramaic. The village is on a UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites.
The rebel advance into the area this week was spearheaded by Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, exacerbating fears among Syrians and religious minorities about the role played by Islamic extremists within the rebel ranks. (more…)

Or as John McCain would say “Allahu Akbar” !!

In return Pope Francis rebukes President Obama !!

With all my strength, I ask each party in the conflict not to close themselves in solely on their own interests. #prayforpeace

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 5, 2013

Toward the end of this brief video Secretary Kerry says:

…. “I guarantee you if we turn our backs today, the picture we all saw in the paper today and the media of those people shot, that will take place more because more extremists will be attracted to this, because they will be funded as the only alternative in order to take on Assad”….

Accurately Rush Limbaugh opines.   Rush Limbaugh makes a great point regarding John Kerry’s insistence that these Syrian rebels are moderates — yet he referred to American military as murderers who terrorize women and children. (more…)

No longer willing to be a codependent enabler to stupid leadership decisions espoused on my behalf, and despite the structure around the pretext that failing to support them makes me unpatriotic, I’m furious with our President on this Syrian fiasco.
This is not a zero sum game, and I do not accept the presentation as such.   I also hold a principle that history holds value.
A failure to support President Obama’s personal opinion is not equivalent to supporting Assad or Iran.   The missing context is the application of freedom principles and history.  It is not unpatriotic to support freedom – It WAS unpatriotic of President Obama to draw a “red line” in our national sand without seeking permission of forethought. (more…)

The vote from the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee to put Obama’s Syrian resolution before the full Senate is essentially meaningless.    The subsequent vote amid the full Senate to support such a resolution is more politically valuable, but not terribly much.
The vote that counts, to authorize President Obama to use our military and attack Syria, will only come from the House of Representatives – The ‘People’s House’.

With that in mind a couple of recent tracking polls, ABC and Think Progress, are in alignment: (more…)