As events unfold along the Mediterranean rim the governing strategy behind US foreign policy, the Obama Doctrine, becomes increasingly clear.

On the heels of supporting an insurrection managed by the Muslim Brotherhood against Hosni Mubarak, we have undertaken an ill-conceived military assault in favor of a racist and islamist insurrection against a ridiculous nonentity… a military assault our “allies” seem to be abandoning faster than lice do a dead dog.

Now we observe that Syria is cracking down on its own democracy movement. The security forces there have killed as many as 25 unarmed people in a series of raids.

From the White House:

“The United States strongly condemns the Syrian government’s brutal repression of demonstrations, in particular the violence and killings of civilians at the hands of security forces,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

“We reject the use of violence under any circumstances. We are also deeply troubled by the arbitrary arrests of human rights activists and others.

“Those responsible for the violence must be held accountable. The United States stands for a set of universal rights, including the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and believes that governments must be responsive to the legitimate aspirations of their people.

“We call on the Syrian government to exercise restraint and respect the rights of its people and call on all citizens to exercise their rights peacefully.”

So what is the Obama Doctrine?

As best we can tell it is a policy of taking whatever action is most inimical to the interests of the United States. Ideally this involves handing over countries, ideally friendly ones, to our enemies under the guise of spreading democracy. The Obama Doctrine is a muscular doctrine, one that doesn’t shy away from using military force so long as there is no strategic reason for US involvement and there are no defined military or diplomatic objectives other than making the United States seem ridiculous to friends and enemies alike. And it can’t be too much like work. That would interfere with golfing, reading the sports page, or conducting beer summits.

This is why we will not use military action against Syria no matter what Assad does to his dissidents. Syria matters. Syria has single handedly prevented a comprehensive peace with Israel through it’s contrived Shebaa Farms controversy. It has all but annexed Lebanon. It was the source of arms for the insurgents in Iraq and one of the favored routes for foreign fighters. It is charter member of the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism making it onto the very first such list in 1979. Replacing Assad would actually mean something. And so he remains outside the parameters of the Obama Doctrine.