Ignatius alleges that the U.S. has a long history of encouraging rebellions with words but not with actual help. He writes:
The story that's playing out now in Syria is so familiar that it's almost a leitmotif of American foreign policy. Washington wants to see a change of government so it encourages local rebels to rise up. Once these rebels are on the barricades, policymakers often get cold feet, realizing that they lack public support. This process happened in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the Bay of Pigs in 1961, the Prague Spring of 1968, the contras program in Nicaragua in 1984. It happened in Lebanon, Laos, southern Iraq ... make your own list.The only one with which I'd quarrel is the contras; they did get substantial, continuing military aid from the U.S.
It is odd how often our foreign policy establishment takes positions unsupported by public opinion. Perhaps they should (a) be more circumspect or (b) do a better job of building support at home for the risks they wish to take abroad.
