Obama losing control of Middle East policy

The Obama administration is losing control of its Middle East policy and with it, Washington’s credibility. Yesterday the State Department and Pentagon gave conflicting accounts of the administration’s Syria policy before a bewildered Senate Armed Services Committee. While Secretary of State John Kerry reported working “very, very closely” with “the moderate, legitimate opposition” in Syria, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said the ability to “clearly identify the right people” in the opposition is “actually more confusing…today than it was six months ago.”…

This is not a scene the United States wants Assad, the mullahs in Iran, and our allies in the region to see: an admission of confusion and failure from the Pentagon as the State Department makes dubious boasts of success. The contradictory testimonies bespeak an incompetent and vulnerable leadership at precisely the time Washington should be projecting strength and resolve.