OPINION
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD LJWorld.com Saturday, June 22, 2013 WHERE TO WRITE
Federal President Barack Obama White House, Washington, D.C. 20500; (202) 456-1111 Online comments: www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R) Russell Senate Office Building, Courtyard 4 Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-6521; Website: www.moran.senate.gov U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts (R) 109 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-4774; Website: www.roberts.senate.gov U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-1st District) 126 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-2715; Website: www.huelskamp.house.gov U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-2nd District) 1122 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-6601; Website: www.lynnjenkins.house.gov U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-3rd District) 214 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-2865; Website: www.yoder.house.gov U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-4th District) 107 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-6216; Website: www.pompeo.house.gov
State Gov. Sam Brownback (R) Suite 212-S, State Capitol, Topeka 66612 (785) 296-3232 or (877) 579-6757 governor@state.ks.us Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) 1st Floor, 120 S.W. 10th Ave., Topeka 66612 (785) 296-4564; sos@sos. ks.gov Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R) 2nd Floor, 120 S.W. 10th Ave., Topeka 66612 (785) 296-2215; general @ksag.org Treasurer Ron Estes (R) 900 S.W. Jackson St., Suite 201, Topeka 66612 (785) 296-3171; ron@treasurer.ks.gov Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger (R) 420 S.W. Ninth St., Topeka 66612 (785) 296-3071 or (800) 432-2484 commissioner@ksinsurance.org
State Board of Education Janet Waugh, (D-District 1) 916 S. 57th Terrace, Kansas City, KS 66106 (913) 287-5165; JWaugh1052@aol.com Carolyn Wims-Campbell, (D-District 4) 3824 SE Illinois Ave., Topeka 66609 (785) 266-3798; campbell4kansasboe@verizon.net
Kansas Board of Regents 1000 S.W. Jackson St., Suite 520, Topeka, KS 66612; (785) 296-3421 www.kansasregents.org Tim Emert, Independence, chairman Christine Downey-Schmidt, Inman Mildred Edwards, Wichita Fred Logan Jr., Leawood Dan Lykins, Topeka Ed McKechnie, Arcadia Robba Moran, Hays Janie Perkins, Garden City Kenny Wilk, Lansing Andy Tompkins, president and CEO
7A
Syria inaction is another form of action WASHINGTON — The war in Syria, started by locals, is now a regional conflict, the meeting ground of two warring blocs. On one side, the radical Shiite bloc led by Iran, which overflies Iraq to supply Bashar al-Assad and sends Hezbollah to fight for him. Behind them lies Russia, which has stationed ships offshore, provided the regime with tons of weaponry and essentially claimed Syria as a Russian protectorate. And on the other side are the Sunni Gulf states terrified of Ira-
Charles Krauthammer letters@charleskrauthammer.com
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Serious policymaking would dictate that we either do something that will alter the course of the war, or do nothing. Instead, Obama has chosen to do just enough to give the appearance of having done something.”
nian hegemony (territorial and soon nuclear); non-Arab Turkey, now convulsed by an internal uprising; and fragile Jordan, dragged in by geography. And behind them? No one. It’s the Spanish Civil War except that only one side — the fascists — showed up. The natural ally of what began as a spontaneous, secular, liberationist uprising in Syria was the United States. For two years, it did nothing. President Obama’s dodge was his chemical-weapons red line. In a conflict requiring serious statecraft, Obama chose to practice forensics instead, earnestly agonizing over whether reported poison gas attacks reached the evidentiary standards of “CSI: Miami.” Obama talked “chain of cus-
tody,” while Iran and Russia, hardly believing their luck, reached for regional hegemony — the ayatollahs solidifying their “Shiite crescent,” Vladimir Putin seizing the opportunity to dislodge America as regional hegemon, a position the U.S. achieved four decades ago under Henry Kissinger. And when finally forced to admit that his red line had been crossed — a “game changer,” Obama had gravely warned — what did he do? Promise the rebels small arms and ammunition. That’s it? It’s meaningless: The rebels are already receiving small arms from the Gulf states. Compounding the halfheartedness, Obama transmitted his new “calculus” through his deputy national security adviser. Deputy, mind you. Obama gave 39 (or was it 42?) speeches on health care reform. How many on the regional war in Syria, in which he has now involved the United States, however uselessly? Zero. Serious policymaking would dictate that we either do something that will alter the course of the war, or do nothing. Instead, Obama has chosen to do just enough to give the appearance of having done something. But it gets worse. Despite his commitment to steadfast inac-
tion, Obama has been forced by events to send F-16s, Patriot missiles and a headquarters unit of the 1st Armored Division (indicating preparation for a possible “larger force,” explains The Washington Post) — to Jordan. America’s most reliable Arab ally needs protection. It is threatened not just by a flood of refugees but by the rise of Iran’s radical Shiite bloc with ambitions far beyond Syria, beyond even Jordan and Lebanon to Yemen, where, it was reported just Wednesday, Iran is arming and training separatists. Obama has thus been forced back into the very vacuum he created — but at a distinct disadvantage. We are now scrambling to put together some kind of presence in Jordan as a defensive counterweight to the IranHezbollah-Russia bloc. The tragedy is that we once had a counterweight and Obama threw it away. Obama still thinks the total evacuation of Iraq is a foreign policy triumph. In fact, his inability — unwillingness? — to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement that would have left behind a small but powerful residual force in Iraq is precisely what compels him today to recreate in Jordan a pale facsimile of that regional presence.
Whatever the wisdom of the Iraq War in the first place, when Obama came to office in January 2009 the war was won. Al-Qaida in Iraq had been routed. Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite government had taken down the Sadr Shiite extremists from Basra all the way north to Baghdad. Casualties were at a wartime low, the civil war essentially over. We had a golden opportunity to reap the rewards of this toobloody war by establishing a strategic relationship with an Iraq that was still under American sway. Iraqi airspace, for example, was under U.S. control as we prepared to advise and rebuild Iraq’s nonexistent air force. With our evacuation, however, Iraqi airspace today effectively belongs to Iran — over which it is flying weapons, troops and advisers to turn the tide in Syria. The U.S. air bases, the vast military equipment, the intelligence sources available in Iraq were all abandoned. Gratis. Now we’re trying to hold the line in Jordan. Obama is learning very late that, for a superpower, inaction is a form of action. You can abdicate, but you really can’t hide. History will find you. It has now found Obama. — Charles Krauthammer is a columnist for Washington Post Writers Group.
PUBLIC FORUM
Fair share?
now pay for all of the infrastructure costs, and KU Athletics will pay for none. So we get a $10 million building, we buy $6 million of infrastructure for our recreation center and give away $6 million of infrastructure to KU Athletics. This $6 million mistake leaves the taxpayers with two questions: 1. Will our City Commission renegotiate this very bad development agreement? 2. Will our partners — Fritzel, KU Athletics and the KU Endowment Association — contribute a fair share toward the infrastructure? Kirk McClure, Lawrence
To the editor: The Rock Chalk Park sports complex was sold to the taxpayers as a partnership with Kansas University, although KU has never been a party to the deal. Our partners are Fritzel Construction, KU Athletics, Inc. and the KU Endowment Association. We were told that we would pay for a $20 million building and share the costs of the infrastructure (parking lots, drainage and landscaping), with the KU Athletics. The taxpayers would pay about $4 million for infrastructure, and KU Athletics would pay about $5 million. The taxpayers would purchase the land from KUEA and pay architects fees.
Jayhawk praise
When the public called for public bidding, the cost of the building from Fritzel dropped to $10 million, but the taxpayers will not see any savings because the flawed development agreement shifts a larger share of the infrastructure costs to the taxpayers. Now the infrastructure costs have risen to $12.3 million. We can only imagine how much less these costs could be if they were put out for public bid. The taxpayers must
To the editor: During the recent NCAA track and field championships, I had the opportunity to see the performances up close. As an Oregon Track Club official and local high school track coach, I was in a position to observe the Kansas University women and their competitiveness and support of each other over the four days. They showed great determination when compet-
ing, and their encouragement of each other was extraordinary, and in spite of the challenge of competing against one of the favorites, the University of Oregon, on their home facility, the Jayhawk ladies did not back down. When their championship had been confirmed, the enthusiasm, pride and class was evident in these fine young ladies and their coaches. You all should be very proud of the accomplishment of the KU women and their coaches for the first women’s championship of any kind at KU and for a job well done and a fitting end to this year’s championships. Larry Callaway, Eugene, Ore.
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