In 1994, after directing the U.S. Air Force's official study of the Persian Gulf War, I concluded, "Air power is an unusually seductive form of military strength, in part because, like modern courtship, it appears to offer gratification without commitment." That observation stands. It explains the Obama administration's enthusiasm for a massive, drone-led assassination campaign against al-Qaida terrorists. And it applies with particular force to a prospective, U.S.-led attack on the Syrian government in response to its [alleged] use of chemical weapons against a civilian population.
U.S. President Barack Obama has boxed himself in. He can no longer ignore his own proclamation of a "red line." The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a breach of proper civil-military relations, has publicly telegraphed his skepticism about any use of force in Syria. But the scale, openness and callousness of the Syrian government's breaking of an important taboo seems likely to compel this president — so proud of his record as a putative war-ender — to launch the warplanes yet again in the Middle East.
The temptation here is to follow the Clinton administration's course — a futile salvo of cruise missiles, followed by self-congratulation and an attempt to change the topic. It would not work here. A minority regime fighting for its life, as Bashar Assad's is, can weather a couple of dozen big bangs. More important, no one — friends, enemies or neutrals — would be fooled. As weak as the United States now appears in the region and beyond, we would look weaker yet if we chose to act ineffectively. A bout of therapeutic bombing is an even more feckless course of action than a principled refusal to act altogether.