TURKISH-SYRIAN BORDER — “I know roughly 100,000 Syrians have been killed so far,” said Syrian refugee Adad Halabi, who lost his home and family in the Syrian civil war, “but being the president of America is hard. If Obama feels like he needs more time to figure out what to do in a situation where hundreds of civilians are killed every day, I totally get that.”
Many Syrian refugees have expressed disappointment with Obama for failing to immediately change his policy in Syria after Assad used chemical weapons, even after the American president called the use of chemical weapons a “red line.” It seems like most Syrians, however, understand how difficult the American president has it.
“Look, all we see in Syria are our dead friends and family members,” Halabi explained compassionately. “We don’t see how hard it must be for Obama to deal with John McCain urging him to do more while Ron Paul condemns him for doing too much. It must be really difficult to figure out what to do.”
Generally, it seems like Syrians are supportive of the American president’s nuanced position in the face of unmediated civilian slaughter. Many have applauded his move to insinuate he was going to arm the rebels without actually arming any rebels or modifying U.S. strategy vis-à-vis Syria in any discernible way.
“It really is a genius political move,” Halabi said. “The president gets to appease the interventionist as well as the humanitarian camp, but he doesn’t risk further American intervention or the possibility of arming the wrong group. Yes, it’s frustrating as a Syrian civilian to watch, but Obama’s geostrategic acumen is to be admired.”
