MARKET WATCH COLUMNIST
So Britain’s taking a pass on Syria. Nice to have allies, huh? Now it’s up to a fractured Congress to strengthen the president’s hand.
With friends like these, in London and Washington, who needs frenemies? It’s the Coalition of Let Me Get Back to You on That.
Sad but true: That’s where we are after Afghanistan and, especially, Iraq. Our last “slam dunk” on weapons of mass destruction turned into an out-of-bounds dribble, and most of our loyal teammates ran for the showers the first chance they got.Now, as we call “game on” again, they recall how busy they are, how overextended, how fundamentally unconvinced.
Some people say this is the price of calling wolf the last time. Others say it’s reaping what we sow. By 
whatever name, it’s defining the terms of American power in 2013.
Eventually, we may cajole some of our old allies to join in an action against Syria’s murderous Assad regime. The Europeans — thank you, France — could lend some troops or some moral cover. The friendly Arab states, who hate the slaughterous Bashar Assad even more than we do, could toss in some petrodollars.
And the evidence, for what it’s worth, does keep mounting. Syrian forces killed at least 1,429 people in a chemical attack near Damascus, Secretary of State John Kerry says.
In time, that may be convincing.
But for now, we say “trust us,” and hardly anybody does.
TO THE RESCUE
1. Damn the Torpedoes
2. I Want You
3. V for Victory
4. Keep Calm and Carry On
5. Maybe If Congress and the British Agree
THE NEWS IN SONG
Don’t turn the other way
Heart
“Allies”
tinyurl.com/countonem
ASKED AND UNANSWERED
Will the threat of a $500 fine be enough to persuade East Hampton’s share-house landlords to register with the town? Will that just become another (small) cost of a lucrative business? . . . Was it Take Your Daughter to Work Day in New Hyde Park? Nassau cops say Frank Simone and Allyson Tibaldi burglarized two apartments on Jericho Turnpike with their 3-year-old 
daughter in tow . . . Cetacean morbillivirus? Is that the measles-like ailment that’s beached 488 dolphins this summer from Long Island to North Carolina? And when will ocean researchers develop a vaccine and a way to dispense it to a l
arge population of at-risk sea mammals? . . . Want to say “see ya later” to that illegal gator in the basement? At next Saturday’s Reptile Amnesty Day at the Selden Petco, the Suffolk SPCA is also accepting snakes, lizards, crocodiles and caimans . . . Why aren’t boat-propeller guards mandatory? Couldn’t a Prop Buddy have saved that 10-year-old tuber near the Cedarhurst Yacht Club . . . Were those turkey vultures spotted over Hicksville and Farmingdale? Now that the creepy-looking, long-winged birds are returning to LI, couldn’t they use a more attractive name? Any rebranding ideas?
LONG ISLANDER OF THE WEEK
MIGUEL MORENO
You’d think that Miguel Moreno would have had enough by now: enough disaster, enough response, enough innocent lives upended in a tragic flash. But no. A retired FDNY firefighter who lives in North Babylon, he is now one of LI’s most ardent Red Cross volunteers, turning up at fires, floods and other disasters here and everywhere. His trip sheet includes the Northridge (Calif.) Earthquake, the Midwest floods, TWA Flight 800, the World Trade Center on 9/11 and, of course, superstorm Sandy, a two-month gig. With hurricane season here again, he sees no good reason to stop. He sums up it all up in six simple but powerful words: “So I can serve my community.”
E-mail ellis@henican.com
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