For the sake of those not familiar with the double-speak required of the modern Beltway politian, and who lack the historical context needed to dig out the burined meanings, we provide the following translation of the President's recent speech:
My fellow Americans, tonight I want to talk to you about Syria, why it matters and why we can't go anywhere from here.
Over the past two years, what began with our ambassador and agents provocateur inciting violence at peaceful protests has turned into a brutal proxy war that has killed over 100,000 people and forced millions to flee the country. During that time, America has worked with allies like Qatar and Saudi Arabia to channel money, mercenaries and Croatian artillery, to help form a puppet opposition organization, and force a political settlement, but I have resisted calls for direct military action because the American people will not support it, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The situation profoundly changed, though, on August 21st, when sarin gas that may have been supplied to rebels by the Saudi intelligence service via our supply base in Jordan, or may have been used by government forces, was accidentally released, killing at least 281 people, including tens of the rebels.
The images from this accident are sickening: men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas. We have additionally prepared pictures of people foaming at the mouth, and of a father clutching his dead children and imploring them to get up and walk. On that terrible night, the world saw in gruesome detail the terrible nature of chemical weapons and we were able to build a case that the Syrian government had committed a crime against humanity and a violation of the laws of war.
It has always been the case that Americans, peace-loving by nature, need an atrocity to spur them to war. In World War I, American G.I.s were among the many thousands killed by deadly gas in the trenches of Europe after the sinking of the Lusitania provided that spur.
No one disputes that on August 21st chemical weapons were used in Syria. The world saw thousands of videos, cell phone pictures, and social media accounts from the attack, and humanitarian organizations told stories of hospitals packed with people who had symptoms of poison gas inhalation.
Now, I'm going to tell you the story that we're going with, so I would like you to stop thinking about why in the world Syria would launch a chemical weapons attack on the eve of the UN inspectors' arrival, after specifically inviting them to investigate rebel use of sarin gas. Just mindlessly accept whatever I tell you: Blah, blah, blah, blah… Lies, lies, lies, lies… Moreover, we know the Assad regime was responsible.
The question now is what the United States of America and the international community© is prepared to do about it, because what happened to those people-to those children-is not only a violation of international law, it's also a danger to our security.
My second purpose today is to provide you with additional information, to share with you what the United States knows about Syria's weapons of mass destruction as well as Syria's involvement in terrorism. I might add at this point that we are providing all relevant information we can to the inspection teams for them to do their work.
The material I will present to you comes from a variety of sources. Some are U.S. sources. And some are those of other countries. Some of the sources are technical, such as intercepted telephone conversations and photos taken by satellites. Other sources are people who have risked their lives to let the world know what Saddam Hussein is really up to.
I cannot tell you everything that we know. But what I can share with you, when combined with what all of us have learned over the years, is deeply troubling. What you will see is an accumulation of facts and disturbing patterns of behavior. The facts on Syria's behavior demonstrate that Bashar Al-Assad and his regime have made no effort-no effort-to disarm as required by the international community. Indeed, the facts and Syria's behavior show that Bashar Al-Assad and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction.
If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them. Over time, our troops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield, and it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons and to use them to attack civilians.
If fighting spills beyond Syria's borders, Syria might attack our supply bases for mercenary death squads in Turkey and Jordan. And a failure to successfully destabilize Syria would embolden Assad's ally, Iran, which must decide whether to build a nuclear weapon or to allow us to take control of their resources.
But this is not something Russia will accept. And that is why, after careful deliberation, I have determined that it is in the national security interest of the United States not to respond to the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike.
Even though I lack the Constitutional authority to order military strikes on a country we are not at war with, I would have done it if the UK's withdrawal hadn't shown me how weak our international support was. I would have put more and more burdens on the shoulders of our troops, while sidelining the people's representatives from the critical decisions about when we use force.
I have tried to convince the people by making empty promises, like saying that I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria, and that I will not pursue an open-ended action like in Iraq or Afghanistan, and that I will not pursue a prolonged air campaign contrary to the War Powers Act like I did in Libya. No, I promised that this would be a targeted strike to achieve a clear objective of deterring the use of chemical weapons and degrading Assad's capabilities.
However, since Russia won't be bullied and no-one believes what we are telling them anymore, I have been forced to back down.
We asked the Russian Foreign Minister to throw us a bone, so that we could step back from our previous blustering threats without losing face, and they have indicated a willingness to place Assad's chemical weapons under international control.
I have therefore asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force-which I was sure to lose-while we pursue this diplomatic path. I'm sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart on Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with President Putin.
Franklin Roosevelt once said, "Our national determination to keep free of foreign wars and foreign entanglements cannot prevent us from feeling deep concern when ideas and principles that we have cherished are challenged."
I've attempted to use those feelings to draw my countrymen into another false-flag war. This time I have failed, but we will continue to destabilize Syria, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Malaysia, while building support for interventions in Lebanon, the Sudan and Yemen.
That's what makes America different-that we believe we have the right to do these things. That's what makes us exceptional. With a mixture of cynical self-righteousness and resolve, let us never lose sight of that essential truth.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.