"President Obama touted Yemen just last September as a country where the United States 'successfully' was 'taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines.' Some administration officials feared Obama’s boast would haunt him, and sure enough, just over a week later, Shiite rebels from the Houthi movement seized the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
Last week, after four months of relentless pressure from the Houthis and the collapse of his military, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned. Yemen became another shard of the splintering Middle East. The two most powerful forces, the Iran-backed Houthis and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), are both strongly anti-American."
Excuse me, David, but do you really think that Yemen is the only problem?
As observed two weeks ago in a Wall Street Journal article entitled "Months of Airstrikes Fail to Slow Islamic State in Syria" by Dion Nissenbaum:
"More than three months of U.S. airstrikes in Syria have failed to prevent Islamic State militants from expanding their control in that country, according to U.S. and independent assessments, raising new concerns about President Barack Obama’s military strategy in the Middle East."
Further afield, in "friendly" Turkey, following the atrocities in France earlier this month, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu responded by declaring:
"We do not allow any insult to the prophet in this country."
How much more damage can Obama do in the Middle East? Plenty, if he is allowed to sign an agreement with Iran effectively giving them atomic weapons.
Sadly, it was all predictable. Who Obama is was obvious to me since his first interview (New Yorker?) and the response to it. I saw a charlatan while the surrounding people (I live in NYC) saw a Messiah. What would happen in the Middle East was also obvious then and was confirmed in his Cairo speech (for which he received a Nobel!). Yes, he set the world on fire and, frankly, I think he should be held accountable. More importantly, it's irresponsible to let him to continue. If there are mechanisms to correct the "mistake" (a tiny, tiny, tiny mistake of monumental proportions), they must be used. If there aren't any, there is an additional problem. Future historians (if there will be any) will be puzzled. Yes, this is one of the most embarrassing moments in American history and one of the most dangerous moments in world history.
ReplyDeleteObama will be remembered as the American President who lost Canada - over Keystone pipeline cross-border connection.
ReplyDeleteThat presumes anyone will still be alive who is literate enough to write about O's 'legacy'.
No one writing for any US newspaper really studies the complexities of the "Middle East" - one reason why they use that geographic term to include Afghanistan.
If the Sultan of Oman suddenly dies, it is possible even the WaPo writers' heads will explode trying to figure out why Oman is so important.
The Castro Bros have now asked for reparations as a starting point for O's Cuba opening.
Reparations!
Anyway, I remain confident the Saudis have Pakistan ready to launch, and that Iran knows it.
k2