Col. Ralph Peters (retired) mentioned on Fox News recently that the Syrian regime and the rebels are both enemies of ours and they are killing each other. He suggests that they keep doing so. Not an entirely bad concept. But chemical warfare is another matter.

After the Fast and Furious, Benghazi, IRS and NSA scandals, to name only a few, the Obama administration has proven, at best, to be ethically challenged. Obama’s administration has spun every questionable issue to date with self-serving impunity, thereby creating its own well-deserved, and worldwide I might add, credibility issues. So by what rationale should the public now accept that the current information we’re being told regarding use of chemical weapons is solid and believable?

Regardless of the ultimate result, the Bush administration did not have the credibility void that Obama’s administration has when it claimed to have solid intelligence regarding WMD. Obama’s administration does not have that same luxury, but it’s possible, I suppose, that Obama’s administration is being straight up this time.

Either way, reports are that any action Obama might take will not eliminate the potential for future use of chemical weapons in that conflict. So to take action looks like a waste of time and treasure.

Furthermore, as other tyrants the world has tolerated have discovered, there eventually will come a time for answering to the issues of war crimes, of which chemical warfare is but one. Time is on our side. I suggest we wait.

Al Phillips

Prineville