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 The reason for Obama's good humor? His diplomacy paid off this
time, with military contributions from five Arab states. One of his
first items of business after arriving in New York for meetings at
the United Nations was to personally thank representatives from the
five.
But heading into a U.S. congressional election campaign season where
control of the Senate is at stake, Obama's new war could become
problematic for him and his Democratic Party if all does not go
smoothly.
It could temper the enthusiasm of anti-war Democrats to turn out and
vote on Election Day in November. Any problems with the mission
could further dampen his approval ratings, now hovering around 40
percent, and embolden Republicans ready to pounce at the slightest
misstep.
Initially, at least, Obama was scoring points with both political
parties for his actions. Opinion polls could be expected to show
some Americans will be pleased Obama acted to retaliate against
Islamic State after the extremists beheaded two American captives
and taunted the United States.
Frank Newport, editor in chief of the Gallup polling organization,
said polling on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 found majority support for
military action but "whether that will be translated into increased
support for the president at least as we measure it is still
unknown."
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Sept. 12 showed that Americans
support Obama's campaign of airstrikes but they have a low appetite
for a long campaign. Sixty-four percent of people in the online
survey said they backed the campaign. Twenty-one percent were
opposed and 16 percent said they did not know.
Obama could face problems with Congress. The vote to authorize the
use of force that lawmakers approved last week did not give Obama
carte blanche to carry out this fight but rather it was a limited
vote for a narrow, two-month authorization to equip and train Syrian
rebels.
Lawmakers will be taking up this issue again after the election.
"His presidency was built on getting out of wars, not getting in
them," said James Goldgeier, dean of American University’s School of
International Service in Washington. "It's certainly risky, but
there is popular support there for doing something. So I think a lot
is going to depend on how it goes."
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Obama, who shied away from airstrikes in Syria a year ago, had a
slow reversal in course. A year ago he saw no positive outcome for
getting involved in Syria’s civil war. Spurred into action by the
rapid rise of Islamic State, Obama has become what he worked really
hard to avoid becoming, a war president.
But he has sought to make sure the United States was not acting
alone. His mood was such afterward that he told a joke about the
pregnant Chelsea Clinton after former President Bill Clinton
introduced him at the Clinton Global Initiative.
"If Chelsea begins delivering while I’m speaking, she has my
motorcade," Obama said to laughter.
Now, his challenge is to negotiate a careful path in the Middle
East, keeping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from interfering in
going after more Islamic State targets. Aides said they doubt Assad
will respond, since it has no control over the area that the
airstrikes targeted.
Obama must make sure Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi follows
through on forming a government that includes Sunnis, and perhaps
most importantly, must get a rebel Syrian army prepared to hold
ground cleared by the airstrikes.
Blaise Misztal, director of foreign policy at the Bipartisan Policy
Center, said that Congress may support Obama for now, but "the
longer this goes on, the more of a political football it will
become.”
(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Gabriel Debenedetti;
Editing by Grant McCool)
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