Ken Berwitz
In the wake of last week\’s embarrassing revelation that onlyfour or five U.S.-trained rebels are currently engaged in fighting the IslamicState, the White House was scrambling to deflect blame. It wasn\’t Obama\’sfault, said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. Thepresident never wanted to back the rebels in the first place. His hand wasforced by administration figures and Republican lawmakers who wanted to aid therebels. It\’s time, said Earnest for “our critics to fess up in this regard aswell. They were wrong.”
Of course, thisisn\’t just about shifting blame, it\’s also about changing the subject: None ofthe administration\’s “critics” ever argued for arming rebels to fight ISIS, thetarget was always Assad. It was the administration that forced rebel recruitsto sign documents promisingthey would only fight the Islamic State and wouldn\’t use their arms or skillsto fight Assad and the regime\’s allies. The failure then is all Obama\’s, andthe administration\’s clumsy legerdemain provides important insight into thenature of the White House, its Middle East policy, and the character of thepresident.
