It seems sad to me that the questions presented in this Fallows piece are treated as trenchant, rather than obvious:

1. What objectives does the administration seek to achieve in Syria?

2. How does it anticipate that the use of force will lead to the fulfillment of those objectives?

3. What is the administration's theory of victory? That is, what are the assumptions that link the use of military force to the achievement of victory?

4. How does the administration believe that Syria will respond to the U.S. use of force?

5. What does the administration believe could go wrong? What unexpected things could happen?

6. And finally, how does the administration anticipate that this will end?

It is sad and shocking, but unfortunately, not surprising, that these questions are not the center of the debate.

The leaders of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee have agreed on a compromise Syria resolution. (Full text here.) It's not quite what Obama wanted, but it is expected to go to a committee vote tomorrow.

The bill limits the authorization to 60 days, with an option for an additional 30-day deadline, and makes clear there would be no boots on the ground, the sources said.

More here. A new Reuters poll shows 56% of Americans opposed to an attack.

I'm not in favor of the strike. Seems like a hollow gesture and a slippery slope -- for us. Give our leaders an inch, and they'll find a way to go for the mile.

I obviously disagree with the policy, but I also have to question the politics of this:

Secretary Clinton supports the president’s effort to enlist the Congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the Assad regime’s horrific use of chemical weapons,” a Clinton aide told POLITICO.

I think the President has not presented a plan that makes sense. And I see no reason why Hillary Clinton needed to comment on it now.

The New York Times reports on the Hemisphere Project, a program in which the DEA HIDTAs have been paying AT&T for phone records for 26 years.

The government pays AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units around the country. Those employees sit alongside Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data from as far back as 1987.

[More...]

Ostensibly, the Secretary of State of the United States, John Kerry, seems to have no idea what the job entails. NBC reports:

Secretary of State John Kerry told House Democrats during a Monday conference call that they face a "Munich moment" as they weigh whether to approve striking Syria to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons, two sources with knowledge of the call told NBC News. The phrase is a reference to the 1938 Munich Pact that ceded control of part of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany -- a moment that history has harshly judged as an appeasement of Adolf Hitler that preceded World War II.

Personally, I think Kerry's phrasing is despicable, implying that those who disagree with his assessment of the right course of action in Syria are like those who appeased Hitler in the 1930s. It smacks of the worst rhetoric in the runup to the Iraq Debacle.

But more importantly, it simply is not something a Secretary of State should be saying. If diplomacy is required at some point in this situation, how is the Secretary of State to carry it out, given his intemperate, to put it kindly, remarks? He does not seem to possess the temperament for the job.

Happy Labor Day. (Version with Axl Rose here.)

Lets drink to the hard working people
Lets drink to the lowly of birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Lets drink to the salt of the earth

Congratulations to Diana Nyad. At 64, she is the first to swim from Cuba to Florida. 112 miles, 53 hours.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has presented a report to Parliament which finds the Syrian attack on August 21 involved the "massive use of chemical agents".

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Who is the rabid dog, Jesse or Hank?

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

President Obama today said he has asked Congress to vote on launching a strike on Syria when it returns Sept. 9. John Boehner says the vote will be the week of September 9.

Obama said he believes he has the authority to act without congressional approval, but asked lawmakers to weigh in and shoulder the responsibility for the decision.

“The country will be stronger if we take this course,” Obama said. “We should have this debate.”

Yesterday, Obama released this 4 page summary of a U.S. report detailing intelligence on the suspected use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government on Aug. 21. [More...]

The picks: Kentucky -3 1/2 over Western Kentucky, Syracuse +9 over Penn State, Alabama -21 over Virginia Tech, LSU -3½ over TCU, Washington -3 over Boise State, Temple +31 over Notre Dame, Mississippi State +13 over Oklahoma State, California +6 1/2 over Northwestern, Arkansas -10 over UL Lafayette, Georgia -3 over Clemson, Auburn -14 over Washington State, Buffalo U vs. Ohio State, Over 54, Florida International +22 over Maryland. ALL 2 units.

EPL Special - Manchester City (-1) over Hull in First Half.

Go Gators!

Open Thread.

Last workday before long weekend, it's hard to get everything done. I haven't had a chance to read today's news, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

My goal for the weekend: Finish watching Pablo Escobar, El Patron del Mal on Mun2.tv. All 74 episodes are available online with English subtitles and it's really good -- almost addictive. I'm up to episode 28.

Robel Phillipos, the third friend of Jahar Tsarnaev who was arrested for making false statements to the FBI related to the terrorism investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing, has now been indicted. He's charged with two counts of making a false statement in a matter involving domestic or international terrorism. The Indictment is here. It alleges his false statements material and made knowingly and willfully.

His attorneys previously said they were working on a disposition. No more. They now say he will fight the charges. My translation: Negotiations over sentencing broke down. [More...]

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.