On Monday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer attacked President Barack Obama’s Monday speech at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., where he announced the first meeting of an Atrocities Prevention Board even as the Syrian government continues to commit atrocities against its citizens.
Krauthammer reminded viewers about Obama’s rhetoric in 2011 when the United States acted on threats from now-deceased former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
“Well, remember, when the Libya thing happened, Obama enunciated to the world a grand doctrine of duty to protect,” Krauthammer said. “And under that, he belatedly brought America into a war because of the threats that Gadhafi had made — the threats to the people of Benghazi. Well, that was only hypothetical. That was threats. That was something that might happen in the future.”
“In Syria,” Krauthammer continued, “we have been watching for a year something that isn’t hypothetical. It’s not happening in the future. It’s happening now — 11,000 dead in front of our eyes; the indiscriminate shelling of cities. He hasn’t lifted a finger. He gives a lot of good speeches. He says we can’t stand idly by, and what does he do? He stands idly by.”
During Obama’s speech, the president touted his governmental Atrocities Prevention Board, a government group aimed at preventing genocide around the world. That, according to Krauthammer, was “embarrassing” because it comes off as hollow.
“And what did he announce today at the Holocaust Museum?’ Krauthammer said. “He would be establishing an Atrocities Prevention Board. Now imagine that. The Russians are supplying plane-loads of weapons every day. The Iranians are supplying weaponry and financiers and trainers. And the United States of America, the greatest power in the world, which apparently has a duty to protect, is establishing an Atrocity Prevention Board in the White House. And remember, it’s got representatives from all the agencies. Well, this really is going to make a difference. I mean, it’s embarrassing.”
And if he is not going to be “lifting a finger,” Krauthammer said that the president would best advised to “be quiet” on Syria.
“If you are not going to do it, then don’t speak about it and don’t pretend that America has a matter of conscience — it can’t stand by,” Krauthammer said. “He has to say ‘never again’ and you do it at the museum of the Holocaust and you announce the creation of a board? You do nothing if that is what you are going to do. But the idea that you can pretend and have this smooth rhetoric, and pretend that the we somehow are defending or putting pressure on the regime is ridiculous. We haven’t lifted a finger and if you aren’t going to, then be quiet.”