The Modern JFK

This is probably the worst time in our relations with Russia since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis between the USA and the old Soviet Union. But understand this, Nikita Khrushchev thought he could push around President Kennedy, much like Vladimir Putin is pushing around President Obama.

JFK received documentation showing missiles being erected in the rainforest of Cuba in Mid-October, 1962 by the Soviet army and decided to keep the information private until a strategy was developed by his advisors. In an age of limited technology, this was easier to do than today, with satellites, You Tube, the Internet and the massive information/news technology which now exists. Keeping anything secret is next to impossible.

This is the dilemma that President Obama is up against. How does he make his case to the American people and the world for a limited military action against Syria, when virtually no one supports him in this action?

Presently, according to all the polls, Americans are against our entry into this potential quagmire, because it is unclear who actually used the chemical weapons against the Syrian civilians. The Assad government, supported by Iran and Russia, claims the rebels used them and the rebels, supported by al-Qaeda and other terrorist entities, claim the government and the army used these horrible tools of war.

On Tuesday, the President plans to address the country and the world to try and shore up support for a limited action in Syria. He will attempt to convince Members of Congress to vote for this faulty plan, which in the minds of many, falls far short of achieving any meaningful objective.

Understand that people die in a limited war, and accidents happen, as well. Since last week, when the President decided to wait for the Congress to return on Tuesday, Syria has been able to move their chemical weapons from known sites to areas which could be in larger population centers. Our missiles could hit these places, unintentionally, and cause chemical weapon explosions and death to hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.

So what does the President do if the Congress fails to support him in his action? Does he go through with it anyway, in defiance of the Congress? Will the military fail to obey his orders? Will the media and the people call for his impeachment, if he does attack?

Ironically, President Putin is coming across as the rational leader in this latest fiasco in the Syrian Civil War. And the European Union seems to agree with his view that the world should wait until the UN releases its findings of the alleged (for now) use of these weapons.

If the President plans on going through with his plans to attack Syria anyway in defiance of world opinion, he needs to understand that he just may set off World War Three, much like JFK understood that back in 1962. The difference is that Kennedy had the world's support, whereas Obama does not. This time, he seems to be the Khrushchev to Putin's Kennedy.

And Americans, by and large, are supporting the last real Soviet with his call for restraint. Kennedy is rolling over in his grave.