During the Cold War, the United States took its friends where it found them. If they were willing to cast their lot with us, from the Shah to Gen. Pinochet, we welcomed them. Democratic dissidents like Jawaharlal Nehru in India and Olof Palme in Sweden got the back of our hand.

While the Assads are despotic, George H.W. Bush made the father an ally in Desert Storm, and Ehud Barak offered to return to Hafez Assad the Golan Heights in exchange for a peace deal.

Bush II's democracy crusade and Obama's embrace of the Arab Spring have unleashed and empowered forces less receptive to America's wishes and will than the despots and dictators deposed with our approval.

Pat Buchanan Quotes