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| Posted by bowlingual at Oct 8, 2014 8:24:58 AM |
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Re: A wimpy Obama makes two men very happy Guest post by eternalendrea ------------------------ Over the past six years, the United States of America has faced or been witness to a number of geopolitical crises in the international community. These have been trying times demanding strong leadership from a president willing to take the lead on foreign policy and ensure that American interests (and the stability of the world) are preserved. Unfortunately, we have been troubled time and again to behold the consistent failures of Barack Obama to address these problems in the swift and decisive manner they require, and as a result, not only have the issues at large today not been resolved, but they are considerably worse and more alarming than ever they needed to be. President Obama's disastrous handling of foreign policy can be seen in a number of arenas, but it is perhaps most starkly and dangerously clear in the matter of the terrorist group ISIS which is currently plaguing the Middle East. In order to understand the degree of Obama's mishandling of this situation, we must first understand how the problem arose. ISIS is a direct descendant of the infamous group al Qaeda, which had a functioning branch in Iraq in the aftermath of the American invasion of that country. With the all but total degradation of al Qaeda that has since taken place, the still very much alive Iraqi organization chose to re-brand itself, becoming known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and declaring as its goal nothing less than the establishment of a new Muslim caliphate in the Middle East. Above all else, it must be understood that ISIS is no ragtag band of angry Arab boys making inflammatory political statements and releasing the occasional video of a hooded spokesperson. ISIS has in fact achieved an impressive level of organization, using their considerable treasury (gleaned largely from theft and sympathetic wealthy Muslims in the region) to fund an online propaganda campaign that is nothing short of modern and, one might dare use the word, “hip”. Attracting a number of talented individuals and even several Westerners with intimate knowledge of today's youth culture, they have swarmed the Internet with images and videos that invoke popular video games (“We respawn in Jannah”, reads one ISIS recruitment graphic that compares the group's fight to the beloved game Call of Duty) and current cultural fads (another picture reads “YODO – You Only Die Once; Why Not Make it Martyrdom?”) Public relations work this advanced requires a level of organization and modernity that does not happen by accident. And this is where the president's failure is evident. Soon after taking office, President Obama began preparations for a complete withdrawal of combat troops in Iraq. This was a catastrophic foreign policy blunder, as it failed to appreciate a key fact about the Middle East: Its culture, at least as it pertains to the Arabic population, is one of extremism in the name of the Islamic faith and a hunger for the stern, uncompromising life of theocratic rule under Sharia law. For decades it has been only the hand of strong but secular dictators – of which Iraq's Saddam Hussein was one – that has kept such radical elements in check and prevented them from organizing meaningfully. With Hussein's ouster, American military forces became the only dam holding back the flood, and when Obama took them away there was nothing to stop groups like ISIS from taking root. To be sure, the new military under the command of the freshly installed democratic government was not and is not up to the challenge. Consistently they have been routed in a manner that can only be described as embarrassing by what should be a gang of unfocused guerillas but is in fact a better organized, better led combat force with unshakable morale. So complete has been the Iraqi army's humiliation that many regular soldiers have been seen laying down their arms and changing out of their military uniforms at first sight of ISIS, so terrified are they to even fight. Had Obama acted with understanding of the situation in the Middle East, he would have realized that precisely what has happened could easily have been predicted, and would perhaps not have been so hasty in removing the stabilizing American presence in the region. Now, of course, ISIS has spread out of control, conquering – and the word is “conquering” - large swaths of Iraq and neighboring Syria for themselves, with cities and even military bases falling to their power. In the wake of this disaster, Obama ordered limited air strikes against select ISIS targets, but this was mostly a reluctant measure taken in order to ease pressure on fleeing Christians being pursued and persecuted by the terrorists. Only with the flagrant, obviously provocative murders of several journalists – Americans among them – has Obama finally found the nerve to expand the air campaign to a wider scale, but even American generals on the ground concede that this may be too little, too late. It simply isn't possible to shut down ISIS from above, necessitating a new ground campaign that Obama almost certainly lacks the stomach to initiate. Because of his early blunders and subsequent inaction, matters are now much worse. But as disastrous as the ISIS situation has become, another matter with the potential for even further reaching geopolitical implication has been taking place between Russia and Europe. Shrewdly taking advantage of internal strife within the unstable nation of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has maneuvered himself into quite literally annexing the mostly Russian region of Crimea within that country, and it is dubious he means to stop there. Putin is a man who has spoken favorably – and with no small measure of nostalgia – in the past about the “glories” of the former Soviet Union, and the danger that he longs for a future that sees it restored is very real. To that end, Ukraine is itself a former Soviet republic, and a very economically important one as it once provided the USSR with a vast supply of food. Putin's refusal to back down from his policies toward Ukraine and Crimea even in the face of overwhelming opposition from the entire international community, shows the strength of his determination to achieve his ends. The weakness of the United States in its response to Russia's unconscionable aggression has also undoubtedly played a major role in the maintenance of his courage. Once again, Obama has blundered the handling of this crisis. Right out of the gate, when Crimea was first taken, one of the president's earliest statements on the matter unreservedly and unequivocally took the use of military force as a means of addressing the situation off the table. This was a disastrous decision. While it is a matter of fact that Russia is not Iraq – the former heart of the Soviet Union still boasts a powerful military that will not be easily overcome by any in the world, even that of the US – and to be sure, few would expect actual armed force to be brought to bear, explicitly ruling it out was a poor diplomatic maneuver that showed weakness of part of America and emboldened Putin's campaign. Since this unfortunate announcement was made, matters have only worsened, with economic sanctions against Russia proving ineffective in reversing the annexation and leading to speculation that Putin will retaliate by reducing Russia's sale of gasoline to Europe, a move which would devastate the European economy and lead to ramifications that would be felt around the world. Once again, it has been President Obama's colossal failure to act that has led to this potential catastrophe, and like the crisis in the Middle East, there is sadly no indication that matters will be improving in the near future. Indeed, if Putin does in fact covet the rebirth of the old Soviet Union – no small claim, to be sure, but also not entirely outside the realm of possibility – there may no limit to his plans, and all former Soviet republics may face dangerous times in the near future. Meanwhile, Barack Obama might as well have buried his head in the sand as such serious emergencies occur around the world. The man who once ran for office declaring the need for decidedly nebulous “change”, now seems remarkably hesitant to affect the status quo in any positive way. Having largely caused the rise of ISIS and doing nothing to stop the spread of Russia's influence, he practically ignores the world as matters demand America's attention – and threaten America's security in the future. |
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