One of the few things I got right in my last column was the title, which asked "Can This War Be Stopped?" Apparently the answer is: yes, albeit not for any reason the administration and the pundits (or do I repeat myself?) are now crowing about.
We are told a Kerry gaffe, an impressive display of Putin’s diplomatic jiu-jitsu, and – most of all – the "credible threat" of war led to what the Obamaites and their media cheerleaders are hailing as a great victory for this administration. A look at the timeline of events, however, effectively debunks the official narrative.
The key development here wasn’t Kerry’s fumble and the Russian interception but the announcement by majority leader Harry Reid that the Senate vote on the war resolution would be delayed: the War Party simply didn’t have the votes. What the administration discovered, to their horror, was that the more they made their case to the American people the less support they had: every time Kerry opened his mouth, their poll numbers went down a few points, and a few more members of Congress came out against intervention.
Reid didn’t decide to cancel the Senate vote due to Putin’s diplomatic deus ex machina: as important Democratic Senators defected to the peace camp hours before Reid’s announcement, panic set in. With calls against outnumbering those in favor by over 100-to-1, not even the legendary power of AIPAC could intimidate legislators into swimming against such a tide.
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