In an interview with CNN today, President Obama sought to stake out an opposition to war against Syria, even as he has privately ordered the military to draw up additional options for an attack that could be launched at a moment’s notice.

The Pentagon now has cruise missiles ready to go, just waiting for the green light from President Obama to launch. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel confirmed that the latest options were drawn up at Obama’s behest.

Yet while Obama said the Syria remains a “grave concern,” he warned that the US “could get drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region.”

Positioning himself with the talking points of opposition to the war may simply be an effort to convince the American public that he had to be “convinced” of the merits of the war and is a reluctant aggressor. Of course, all the plans he is having made up behind the scenes point to an administration that is just waiting for an excuse.