Some of my readers are unhappy that I keep criticizing President Barak Obama and his government. The problem, however, is that this administration keeps doing terrible things in the Middle East. And the most damning evidence on these actions comes not from Obama’s enemies but from the administration itself and the supportive mass media.
Here’s the latest such item:
“U.S. Hopes Assad Can Be Eased Out with Russia’s Aid,” by Helene Cooper and Mark Landler, in the New York Times.
For almost three years, Obama insisted he would win over the Syrian dictatorship and make it America’s friend rather than Iran’s number-one ally. That was ludicrous. Forced by the uprising to back away from Damascus, the Obama Administration has spent almost a year bumbling about what to do.
The U.S. government’s main activity was to entrust to the Turkish Islamist regime the job of forming an umbrella Syrian opposition leadership. Not surprisingly, Ankara pursued its own interest by assembling a Muslim Brotherhood-dominated group, the Syrian National Congress. Though several members resigned, complaining of the radical Islamist control, the Obama Administration is still trying to force hostile oppositionists to join.
Now a new and equally terrible policy is unveiled. I’ll let the New York Times’ reporters explain it:
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“President Obama will push for the departure of President Bashar al-Assad under a plan that calls for a negotiated political settlement that would satisfy Syrian opposition groups but that could leave remnants of Assad’s government in place. The success of the plan hinges on Russia, one of Assad’s staunchest allies, which has strongly opposed his removal. Obama, administration officials said, will press the proposal with President Putin of Russia at their meeting next month. Obama’s national security adviser raised the plan with Putin in Moscow three weeks ago.”
Good grief! There are four different acts of strategic insanity involved in this paragraph. They are:
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–“A negotiated political settlement that…could leave remnants of Assad’s government in place.”
The Syrian dictatorship is led by murderous thugs who know this is a case of kill or be killed. They aren’t going to give up any of their power. And why should they since they think they’re winning and may well be right. They know the outside world won’t do anything, despite the regime having killed around 10,000 civilians.
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–“A negotiated political settlement that would satisfy Syrian opposition groups but that could leave remnants of Assad’s government in place.”
The opposition is not so foolish as a Washington pundit, policymaker, or politician. They know that their only hope is to destroy the regime entirely. The democrats want to do so in order to have a modern democracy. The Islamists want Islamism. The Kurds and Druze want autonomy. How could there possibly be a coalition? Both sides know that within days people would be murdering each other. How could anyone expect this kind of deal would work or that the opposition would accept it?
If anyone in Syria might favor such a plan it’s the Muslim Brotherhood. which has toyed with the idea of using such a transition period to strengthen its own hand. So the idea cannot succeed but reveals once again that the Obama Administration seems to get many of its strategies from the Muslim Brotherhood. That’s an observation, not a conspiracy theory.
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– “The success of the plan hinges on Russia, one of Assad’s staunchest allies, which has strongly opposed his removal.”
Just think about that sentence! The Obama Administration wants to depend on a country that’s disdainful of U.S. interests, wants to sabotage them, and is on the opposite side! The president wants to ask a country that is “strongly opposed” Assad’s removal to remove Assad!
And finally, equally amazingly:
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“Obama, administration officials said, will press the proposal with President Putin of Russia at their meeting next month. Obama’s national security adviser raised the plan with Putin in Moscow three weeks ago.”
It’s Obama, not Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is pushing this plan to put Russia in control! If your enemy tries to fool or cheat you, that’s a problem. If you beg him and hand him the means to do so, that’s a betrayal of U.S. interests.
To summarize, the Obama policy shows three characteristics that have wider implications for the president’s strategies. It favors Islamist enemies; it “leads from behind” by giving the initiative to those who wish America no good; and it shows no interest in helping genuinely pro-American moderates who are fighting for their lives.
And that, friends, is why I spend so much time bashing Obama’s Middle East policy, because it is so very bad and dangerous.
Now a possible explanation for all of this would be that Obama doesn’t really want to do anything about Syria for other reasons. The United States doesn’t want to get dragged into direct intervention; it’s a lower-priority issue; there’s no great policy option; and his only concern is the American election.
But so what? It’s still possible to come up with a better policy than this, a policy that would make Obama look good as well as serve U.S. interests. He could call for Assad’s overthrow; back truly moderate oppositionists; subvert Islamist influence; and send arms and money, but only to the moderates. In order to portray himself as decisive, heroic, and a friend of democracy, Obama could take every possible overt and covert opportunity to weaken Assad, even helping at a low cost to create a no-fly zone and safe havens. None of this is going to happen.
Instead, though, he turns over dealing with the opposition to an Islamist regime in Turkey and subcontracts dealing with the regime to a pro-regime Russian government. I’d say that Obama’s policy in the region could not easily be worse but who knows what’s next, especially if there’s a second term?
Jacques Neriah, an Israeli intelligence official makes the following observation :
“The gradual transformation of the Syrian opposition into a movement led by extremist Muslims allied with al-Qaeda does not serve the opposition well. The majority of Syrians don’t identify with those radicals. The more the opposition wears the mask of al-Qaeda, the more there is cohesion in the ranks around Assad.”
see http://jcpa.org/article/alqaeda-jihadists-join-battle-syrian-regime/ for the full article.
I’m still shaking my head over this phrase in the article: “genuinely pro-American moderates”. Uh-HUH. Quite a lot of them running around in Syria, for sure.
Have things changed a lot in the Middle East since I was last there–or is Barry Rubin living in the State of Delusion?
@ yamit82:
I’ve been saying this all along: First an Islamic attack on Israel, led by Turkey; then, after seven years or so, the big NATO (i.e. “One World Government”) attack. I agree that the Western leaders are just using the Islamies, and plan to walk over them after they have spent themselves. I disagree that they see Israel as a “major” problem: They plan to crush Israel along with the Isalamis: 200 warheads do not ruffle the feathers of a leader who controls thousands of such. Obama & Co. think Iran will be kept in check by MAD, and the Iranians are mad! How much more, do they count on the meekly weakly Jewish leaders to play nice? BO is wrong, of course; I fully expect to see the Sampson option exercised, because Zech. 14 says it will — and I expect the Russkies to lob their stockpiles at the US as well, and visa versa.
BO is playing with fire; but he wants no fire until after the election. Then all hell can break loose, as far as he’s concerned.
Of course in that respect you are right. Assad is fighting for his life and that of his family. As was Mubarak and Gadhafi. But it is not as simple as that either and cannot be. Mubarak on the evening before he had been forced to resign largely by the US Mubarak said you think you have democracy well you will have Islamist dictatorship. And he was right.
Where geller and Spencer have been mistaken all along is that they think this is US being stupid, and Obama is a commie etc, and so on, but they do not raise the thought that you raise, that this is not ” a bear in a china shop knocking everything over” (the bumbling bear explanation…jared Israel) but is conscious and deliberate. it shows how far advanced you are Yamit and how these conspiracy theorists who talk about commies are behind the curve.
As regards Israel in one respect you are right. I have always said that Jerusalem is the big prize of the new World Empire of Soros. Where you are wrong you remain IN PHILOSOPHY a kind of anarchist. But I say to you that Israel is already lost if we do not start to CONSCIOUSLY create a new leadership, and that is what I am discussing. Do not attack me personally…attack what I say, for example shopw where WHAT IS SAY has no rtelevance. Play fair. too much at stake. Not just Assad we are all fighting here for our lives.
I will write further on this. I will write further on this betrayal, and it is a betrayal, by Rubin of the Alawis, and the Syrian Christian community.
@ Vinnie:
Where is your proof for such an accusation. With or without Saudis or anyone else the Mortgage Bubble and phony derivatives would have crashed the market each by themselves. The whole financial establishment is a Ponzi Scheme bubble aided and abetted by the Fed and the congress.
You live in Chicago so I will tell you outright the the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has no funds to cover losses do to malfeasance or when any member broker can’t pay off Like MF Global. The exchange couldn’t make good the losses even though they bragged that they had the assets, if needed.
Still wishful thinking on your part. You overestimate the intelligence of the American people.
I m not a great fan of Rubin but for none of the reasons you state. I don’t like Rubin because he gets most things wrong. Even though his supposed expertise is Syria. I say this with the benefit of hindsight. I must admit though that using the same method of critical observation I can’t think of a single pundit who writes on International affairs especially the ME who gets it right more than not.
Assad is not fighting for secularism and against Islam. He is fighting for his life, his family’s life, the life of his regime and the Alawis, who will all probably be massacred when Assad falls. The rebellion against Assad is a CIA MI6 and DGSE Operation. Libya delayed the operation by about 4 months but it was the Wests major objective. The message is clear if the Western major powers cannot control them they will topple them. Political independence will not be tolerated. Countries like Greece or Syria will be made vassals to the IMF, thereby allowing the Banksters and some close associates to own countries by forcing them into unpayable indebtedness. Bottom line is if they can’t own you and you refuse to playball they will have your head one way or another.
Long-term goal is one world government which you should not oppose, and they are willing to let Islamists do the heavy lifting till they are no longer of use, then they figure they can defeat them one way or another even if it means Bombing all of them to Hell. Pakistan is now in their sights and probably Jordan as well. Israel for them is a major problem because the nation is based on the Judaic Mandate of Nation State and the creation of a sovereign Jewish Politi. Daniel Hannan in Israel:.. Watch from 9:20 mark
Your commie ideology has no place in the current unfolding of history. This is all about Power and wealth and who controls it in the near future. The destruction of all independent nation states is their goal.
@ Jerry:
BINGO!
I would not go so far as to say Islamist, because that would imply that he follows Islam. I don’t think Obama has any religion at all, but is intimidated/impressed by radical Islam to the point where he feels compelled to appease the same.
Communist? No doubt, or at least close.
Hates America? Is always ready to excuse the anti-American policies of America’s enemies as America’s “just punishment” for our imperialist, white guy sins? That’s where he’s coming from.
I still can’t believe we elected this clown.
Just remember, everybody, there is no one more Israel-centric than Obama, in a not very nice way.
What drives his policies is the need to surround Israel with hostile countries, make her completely dependent on the U.S. as her “only friend”, and use this leverage to force a Saudi-style peace [surrender] plan down Israel’s throat. This is the central principle behind all of his Middle East policies. Once you understand that, what he does makes a lot of sense indeed.
That’s why the Saudis installed him, by forcing the timing of the ’08 crash by their influence in the markets so as to scare the American people into electing him.
Eight more months to go.
Once you accept the fact that Obama is a Communist/Islamist then you can understand his policies.
Barry Rubin ranks up there as one of the greatest enemies of the Jews, even though most American Jews give him a pass, and many Jews in Israel do so also because they are influenced by America.
The reality facing Jews today whether they accept it now or not is:
Jewish leaders in America and Britain who have their agents in Israel are the big danger.
Rubin is in reality a political imbecile and is totally devious. the reason I say the latter, and that his deviousness takes precedent over his imbecility, is that he leaves out a factor which he knows of very well.
That is that Assad is fighting the war on behalf of secularism and against the combined efforts of Sharia and Wester Capitalist Governments.
Notice I said “combined”.
This is indeed an Alliance of Interests.
We saw this first of all in Yugoslavia although it was also there in the CIA involvement with Suharto in Indonesia.
there is a very deep crisis in capitalism which surpasses the crisis of 1929 (because capitalism is much older) and this crisis has driven all of the capitalist governmental interests to seek an alliance with Islam.
It is in vain that Spencer or Geller complain about this. The underlying material forces are much stronger. There is to be no going back on this Alliance. There is a difference between Romney and Obama. Obama is enthusiastic about this Alliance. Romney is not enthusiastic but will also do it anyway.
This is because by the time Romney takes over the crisis will have moved on. It is mostly a crisis of credit. There is trillions of credit (paper money and increasing) flooding the system.
Season economists in Britain like the very respected Roger Bruton spit on the efforts to rescue the euro, but the euro is inseparable from the dollar.
On this issue of Assad. None of us really like Assad one bit because of the way he carried on the Arab war against Israel while his grandfather knew very well the real value of Israel. But things change and what has chamged with all of these Arab leaders like Ben Ali, Mubarak and Gadhafi, is that they were forced to become while not total secularists certainly in the fight against Sharia Law.
That is very fundamental. That is why Gadhafi HAD to be defended. The issue of Lockerbie was a total distraction especially since the father of a girl killed was certain that libya was not involved.
I listened to a man called David on a radio station yesterday and he played a clip on the massacre, then he related about the birth of his daughter a few months ago, then he said but that does nopt mean that if you do not have children you would not understand, you see he is a Christian and Christians like to cover all bases. But because of the images of the massacre of children he said “something needs to be done”. But he did not state out clearly that that something was to remove Assad by war, which is the position of the French. “Something needs to be done” was also the basis on which many Germans supported Hitler.
This Assad issue is very dangerous for the Jews. I have no time at all for Rubin. I see people like Rubin in this article betraying the 2000 year old Christian community in Syria and handing them over to the Sharia. (By the way Pamela has no clear position of defence of Assad and is not different from what I understand to Rubin)
I have a little doggie friend and he is very aware of what happens in and around our home. But it does take him a while to work new things out. I place him far ahead of Rubin. As for the comparative intelligence of my cat and Rubin, well she would spit in disgust if I was to call barry Rubin intelligent
Most Americans don’t know where Israel is, much less Syria
The Russians will never agree to boot out Assad to make Obama look good.
Putin knows his American counterpart is desperate and now he will squeeze his balls hard.
The Russians are not known to be nice guys when it comes to their national interests.
In statecraft and international diplomacy, Obama is out of his depth.