By Bill O'Reilly
This man is a killer. And evidence shows he used poison gas on civilians last month -- a violation of international law. But he may be the luckiest man on earth tonight because it looks like the world will not act against the Syrian tyrant Assad. That's because the world is a chaotic place lacking strong leadership in the democracies while human rights violators like Putin of Russia run wild.
Remember, it is Putin who is Assad's patron, supplying him with arms, keeping him in power for more than a decade. Today in an effort to try to save Assad, the Russians offered to broker a deal whereby Assad gives up his chemical arsenal under international supervision. A ruse? Most likely. But let's see the details anyway. That could be a way out of this mess.
Now last week at the G-20 statement a statement was issued saying, quote: "We condemn in the strongest terms the horrific chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21st, that claim the lives of so many men, women, and children. The evidence clearly points to the Syrian government being responsible for the attack, which is part of a pattern of chemical weapons used by the regime. We call for a strong, international response to this grave violation of the world's rules," unquote.
There was no mention of military action in that statement -- none. Yet, 10 members of the G-20 would not sign it let me repeat, 10 entities would not condemn Syria at the summit: Argentina, Brazil, China, the European Union, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia of course and South Africa. So the world is divided on Syria. Another great win for the war criminals.
If everyone, everyone united against Assad, he would be gone. So would al Qaeda and most terrorism. But the world is too cowardly to take a stand. Thus the violence continues.
And you can forget about the United Nations, Russia and China would veto any strong action against the villains of the world. Why -- because those countries are villainous. And that's the truth.
So it is left to the United States and its allies to try to impose some sense of justice on the planet. The sad truth is we cannot do it any longer. The USA is too weak and it pains me to say that. It's too weak to even take care of a cheap thug like Assad. American public overwhelmingly against military action in Syria; we the people simply do not want to do it. Even though 82 percent of us, 82 percent believe Assad did gas his own people according to a CNN poll.
However, the same poll says 69 percent of Americans say it's not in our national interest to get involved in Syria. Therefore, President Obama will likely fail in his quest to have Congress authorize a military strike against Assad.
Now, for the consequences of doing nothing. Terrorists will once again see the world is not courageous enough to right grievous wrongs so terrorism will expand. That's consequence number one.
President Obama's leadership in the world and in his own country pretty much done; he is staking his power on striking Assad and the folks are not backing him up. The opposition against the Syrian military strike is twofold. Republicans and conservative do not have enough confidence in the President to back him in a risky action. Many point to the debacle in Benghazi, Libya where after one full year no one has been punished for killing four Americans.
Many liberals and Democrats oppose bombing Syria because they don't want any military action launched by the USA. They even object to killing al Qaeda and the Taliban with drones. The antiwar movement is growing in America.
So Mr. Obama is getting it from both sides and the polls show it. Only about a third of the American public supports military action. Maybe a miracle will happen and the President's speech tomorrow night will change public opinion. But let's be clear, it would be a miracle.
Today the President interviews with six TV news operations. This was the heart of his presentation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Even Assad's allies recognize that he crossed the line in using chemical weapons. Iran itself was subjected to chemical weapons use by Saddam Hussein. Their populations remember what terrible weapons these are. There is a reason why almost the entire international community has signed a ban on chemical weapons even during hot wars. And it's because they are indiscriminate. And so my narrow concern right now is making sure that Assad does not use those chemical weapons again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Bernie Goldberg will analyze the presidential interviews a bit later on. Finally, if Congress denies Mr. Obama cover, the consequence for the USA will be intense. We now have a President who has lost a tremendous amount of power even if Congress does save him.
After five years in office, most Americans do not trust Mr. Obama to effectively punish an obvious human rights violator. They don't like the mission. They don't like the strategy. They don't like the leadership.
The President has three years left in office. But if Congress denies his request to move against Assad that will seem like forever. Mr. Obama will be embarrassed throughout the world. The bad guys overseas will see him as weak and his opponents within the USA will step up their attacks on him.
And so ironically, a vicious attack in Syria now has extreme global implications. Russia, Iran, al Qaeda and every other subversive group gain power. America, Britain, France, NATO and those who are supposed to be the keepers of civilization lose power.
This happened once before in the 1930s, and now it's happening again. Syria is much more than poison gas and Bashar Assad. It is about the struggle for decency and justice in this world.
And that's "The Memo."
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