Just one day after coming out in opposition to an attack on Syria and insisting that they were supporting a diplomatic solution brokered through the United Nations, the European Union has shifted again, and they now appear to be supporting the attack.
In their latest statement, the EU declared support for a “clear and strong” move against Syria, insisting that there was “strong evidence” of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government.
At the same time, the EU position appeared to have run afoul of the current US position by urging them to wait until the United Nations inspectors finish their report before taking any action. The US has opposed the UN inspection in general.
The Obama Administration is presenting the statement as proof that support for the war is growing, claiming that the number of countries will to be involved is “now in the double digits,” though it is unclear if the EU statement means any of them, apart from France, will be involved.
There's no such thing as "EU statement". Only individual countries matter. In the EU ritualistic gatherings all kind of stupidities or politically correct invocations may happen but, for the time being, EU members are sovereign states and decide for themselves what to do. The double digits are the anglo-saxon bloc, the comical France and Israel. All counted twice probably. Of course, if the US goes to war more will pay lip service and send some symbolic support. So it's still up to US and its people to stop the catastrophe.
Saturday night CBS radio news reported that Obama tried to get the EU to endorse a strike on Syria and the EU said no. Some of these AP stories and headlines about EU intentions in the last few days are highly misleading. Most of the U.S. corporate press is eager for war while the EU is trying to apply the brakes. Or that is the way CBS has been portraying the situation. CBS and the New York times did an excellent report that showed a brutal execution of Assad forces by Syrian rebels.