Obama's Foreign Policy Leaves the Middle East in Shambles: The End of Kumbaya Diplomacy

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Perhaps you recall how The Washington Post's David Ignatius declared on March 31, 2015 that "the nation that chanted in unison 'Death to America' is probably gone forever." Well today, in a must-read New York Times article entitled "Iran’s Missile Tests Remind the U.S. That Hostilities Have Not Ended," Helene Cooper and David E. Sanger inform us:

"[T]he past few days have been full of sobering reminders that the grander objective of [the nuclear accord with Iran] — some gradual steps toward an era of wary cooperation, or at least a cessation of hostilities between Washington and Tehran — remains a long way away.

Just last week, the Republican-led Congress inserted new rules into the budget signed by Mr. Obama that were clearly intended to discourage foreigners from doing business with Tehran. Then on Saturday, the Iranian Navy harassed an American aircraft carrier and a French frigate in the Strait of Hormuz, launching rockets that passed within 1,500 yards of the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman. It seemed an act somewhere between recklessness and outright aggression.

So much for détente."

Or more to the point, so much for Obama's unsigned "legacy-creating" nuclear deal with Khamenei. There is no way that Tehran will placidly accept new American sanctions stemming from Iran's recent ballistic missile tests in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

Meanwhile, over at The Washington Post, Liz Sly has written an equally important article entitled "On the front lines of the war against the Islamic State, a tangled web," which observes:

"[T]he Islamic State is but one of a multitude of groups competing for territory and dominance over the collapsed nation states of Iraq and Syria — a symptom as much as a cause of the scramble for power unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the 2011 revolt in Syria.

The Islamic State may or may not be vanquished soon — and a string of defeats inflicted in recent months in northeastern Syria, northern Iraq and most recently Ramadi have raised hopes that its demise may be closer than had been thought.

But already it is becoming clear that victory over the militants won’t end the bloodshed in the region, said Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

'There is little thought being given to the morning after, and the morning after is going to be as bloody, as chaotic and as destabilizing as the situation we are seeing now,' he said. 'The heart of the Middle East has changed. The fragile state system is no longer there.'"

Indeed, Syria and Iraq were never nation-states, but rather entities randomly carved out of the Ottoman Empire by the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France.

Moreover, it is time for the US to prepare Ankara for an independent Kurdistan, notwithstanding the deep-seated enmity of Erdogan and friends to Turkey's Kurdish minority. The Middle East's 30 million Kurds, long friendly to America, deserve their freedom.

Saudi King Salman Refuses Obama's Invitation to Camp David Summit: A Slap in the Face for Obama

President Obama invited leaders of the Arab Persian Gulf countries to a Camp David summit on Thursday in order to "sell" them the nuclear deal that he is fashioning with Iran. There has been much speculation concerning the military hardware that Obama is preparing to transfer to these countries in order to allay their anxiety over the arrangement with Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei. However, as reported by Helene Cooper in a lead New York Times article entitled "Saudi Arabia Says King Won’t Attend Meetings in U.S.":

"Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that its new monarch, King Salman, would not be attending meetings at the White House with President Obama or a summit gathering at Camp David this week, in an apparent signal of its continued displeasure with the administration over United States relations with Iran, its rising regional adversary.

As recently as Friday, the White House said that King Salman would be coming to 'resume consultations on a wide range of regional and bilateral issues,' according to Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman."

An "apparent signal" of Saudi displeasure? Make that a slap in the face for Obama.

Meanwhile, as Obama continues to insist upon reaching agreement with Iran by June 30, regardless of the concession that he will be forced to make, Iran's Fars News Agency is reporting that "US and French warships and military aircraft changed their direction in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday night after being warned by an Iranian flotilla to keep distant."

In addition, as reported by The Times of Israel in an article entitled "Iran Kurds riot after foul play suspected in woman’s death":

"Iranian Kurds rioted in the city of Mahabad last week after a 25-year-old woman fell to her death in an incident in which foul play was suspected. In the ensuing skirmishes, police killed at least two demonstrators, Kurdish media reported.

The demonstrations were held Thursday after Farinaz Khosravani, 25, a chambermaid in the city’s Tara Hotel, fell to her death Monday from the fourth floor of the hotel. Unconfirmed reports indicated that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps soldier reportedly threatened or attempted to rape her, according to Kurdish media accounts quoted in the Israeli press.

. . . .

A Channel 2 report called the outbreak of violent demonstrations a 'Kurdish intifada' and posited that the protests might break out into a 'Kurdish Spring' akin to the Arab Spring which began after a Tunisian man lit himself on fire in 2011."

What does the Obama administration have to say about the rioting and Iranian oppression of its Kurdish minority? Nothing. It could stand in the way of the nuclear deal with Khamenei and Obama's legacy.

In a nutshell, American prestige and influence in the Middle East have reached a nadir.

Obama Creates Middle East Arms Race: Atomic Bombs to Iran and F-35s to the UAE?

As the P5+1 prepares to finalize a nuclear deal with Iran, guaranteeing the mullahs atomic weapons within a decade or less, Obama is seeking to obtain the tacit approval of America's Sunni allies to this abomination, which is intended to cement his presidential "legacy." Iran's Sunni neighbors, however, are terrified by this prospect, and in preparation for a May 14 Camp David summit meeting with the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, i.e. Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman, the Obama administration is anxiously seeking to cobble together a package of "goodies" intended to allay their anxieties.

As reported in a New York Times article entitled "White House Looks to Ease Arab Fears Over Iran Nuclear Pact" by Helene Cooper:

"There is not much time left to come up with something. Mr. Kerry is to meet next week with the foreign ministers of the Arab countries to prepare for the Camp David summit meeting on May 14, and he will be expected to foreshadow what kind of package the administration is willing to offer.

. . . .

Increased weapons sales could help, but there is a major roadblock: maintaining Israel’s military edge. The United States has long put restrictions on the types of weapons that American defense firms can sell to Arab nations, which are meant to ensure that Israel keeps a military advantage against its adversaries in the region. That is why the administration has so far not allowed Lockheed Martin to sell the F-35 fighter jet, considered to be the jewel of America’s future arsenal of weapons, to Arab countries. The plane, the world’s most expensive weapons project, has stealth abilities and has been approved for sale to Israel.

Defense analysts say that with the balance of power in the Middle East in flux, that could change. One possibility would be to wait three years after delivering the F-35 to Israel and then approve it for sale to the United Arab Emirates — the Arab ally most likely to get the first chance to buy the stealth fighter — which would give Israel a three-year head start."

Now it all makes sense: Atomic bombs to Iran within a decade and F-35s to the UAE to counter an Iranian nuclear arsenal. That should ensure peace and stability in the Middle East for many years to come . . . not.