Have we learned nothing? The future of Iraq is in doubt after a huge American investment of lives and money. Ditto Afghanistan. After U.S. help in toppling Moammar Gadhafi, Libya is anything but stable. Egypt is in turmoil after the Obama administration backed its Muslim Brotherhood-controlled government, whose leader and elected president, Mohamed Morsi, has been ousted by the military.

What makes anyone think bombing Damascus is going to bring positive change?

Obama has not asked Congress for permission to attack Syria, as President George W. Bush did before attacking Iraq. He hasn’t gone to the feckless United Nations, because Russia and China have announced they will veto any resolution authorizing military force.

The president doesn’t appear to have established anything like a “coalition of the willing,” as President Bush did with Iraq. Britain is with us, as usual, and France has pledged support, but what about the Arab World? The Saudis may be quietly helping, but that appears to be about it.