The Obama Legacy

Money is power and visa-versa, and the powers that be, totally get it. There is however, a sitting duck (soon to be lame) in the White House and he is quickly becoming the laughingstock of the International community. Lets take a look at the power game unfolding before us. If, after 5 years of bumbling Obama leadership and having witnessed a string of mind boggling mistakes, why look to the Iranian deal for a logical reason to describe what is basically another Obama debacle? It's not so much the decisions, but the thought process behind those decisions that is frightening. It's the arrogance of the assumption that the world are all Americans...just wearing different clothing. If it wasn't so pathetic, it would be ludicrous.

Lets take a step back and look at the history of some Obama debacles. Cheered on by the bankrupt Europeans, he kicked off his presidency with an outstretched hand of friendship to the Islamic world which quickly evolved into the new dawn of democracy known as the Arab Spring. When that part of his legacy turned sour, the champion of human rights and democracy then proceeded to draw red lines for the "Axis of Evil", namely Hizbullah, Syria and Iran. The red lines as it turns out, changed rather suddenly to a shade of yellow as our champion surrendered Syria to Assad and the Russians, Iran to the Mullahs and the rest of us to an uncertain future. In one telephone call, the man legitimized Genocide, rape, racism, terrorism, homophobia and male chauvinism.

So what is happening? Power is shifting away from the US cloaked by intellectual rhetoric, and the symphony conductor is a clown looking for a legacy. Enough of the prose. In what is clearly a calculated decision, the US has decided to abandon its Middle East interests in favour of a stronger position in the geopolitical Asian theatre. Oil is no longer an economic weapon and thus the US seeks what they would call a "balanced" role in the ME. While they either abandon or curtail their relationships with some allies, they are attempting to strengthen the relationships with Japan, South Korea and Australia amongst others. This might explain the withdrawal of forces from Iraq and Afghanistan and the bolstering of a US presence in the South China Sea. 

Sounds good. But what is wrong with this picture? There is the huge assumption that The US can do what it wants and when it wants. A show of weakness in today's dog eat dog world (and most other era's) will definitely have consequences. Obama might assume that nobody is watching, but the truth is, everybody is watching. Everybody (except maybe for Hollywood, CNN, NBC and ABC) understands that the "balance" created by this administration has led to Turkey ordering Chinese weapon systems, Egypt ordering Russian weaponry, Georgia rejecting EU participation in favour of Russia, Jihadists infiltrating war zones, Central and Eastern Europe moving towards Russia and China claiming the East China Sea as China's territorial airspace over the objections of Japan. All big power moves with enormous financial consequences.

The picture gets even more blurred when Americans assume that it is enough for them to declare that they are tired of war and thus the Iranian mullahs will turn their attentions elsewhere. The new American policy of "balance" (some would say "surrender") will herald a new dawn as these Americans wake up to a new reality. The war weary American will soon enough understand the mistake as fatigue turns into fear and then as human nature will have it...is replaced with anger.

So while the Whitewash House (thanks Michael) dithers, the law of unintended consequences is being fulfilled at a breathtaking pace. The vacuum created by this legacy obsessed president is being filled by everyone and anyone who is not American. In case it has not been noted, Netanyahu has visited Putin in Russia at least five times in the past three years. In fact the first country Putin visited after his election victory, was Israel. At the same time the Chinese are quietly making massive investments in Israeli Hi-tech. A wise man once said "don't listen to what they say...watch what they do." 

Hey! And guess what? I haven't even mentioned Obamacare!

You may send a message around the world in one seventh of a second, yet it may take years to force a simple idea through a quarter inch of a human skull - Charles Kettering

The Yellow Red Line

The Washington Post: "The most morally crimped speech by a president in modern times." That description of President Obama's address to the United Nations this week came not from conservative critics but from the editorial page of The Washington Post.

Anybody remember The Obama Cairo speech where he claimed that Housni Mubarak, the Egyptian people and Islam in general have much in common with the American people. At the same time the Obama administration asserted that Assad was a natural US ally, because after all he was an educated man. A doctor who had done his post graduate studies in London, loves western music (especially Chris Brown...wonder why?) and married Asma, educated in the UK with degrees in computer science and French literature. Almost a copy of Obama himself. Well we all know how that turned out...."Mubarak must go!" and then..."Assad must go!"

Lets take a look at all US Allies when the great speechmaker took office. There was the UK, Europe including France and Germany, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, India, most of South America, Africa and so on. Remember how, just a few years ago former Russian Satellites Armenia, Georgia, Belarus and the Ukraine amongst others were all potential US Allies? Thats all gone now. So whats left? US weakness has never been more emphasized than the obscene speech by Obama at the UN.

The red line? What red line? Assad is now the only legitimate leader in Syria today. Anyone (including the UN) who wants to rid Syria of chemical weapons, must talk to Assad. Anyone who believes that it is technically possible to rid the world of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons must be as naive as Obama.  As for the Middle east, the only influential leader left is Putin. Iran of course understands that there is no longer a military option with Obama in office. They can afford to chat up the Americans. It leaves them an open highway to Nuclear weapons. Imagine the shock experienced by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, Turkey, Egypt and the rest of the Sunni world. Israel has never trusted Obama, so less of a shock there. Putin, Assad, Hizbullah and Khameini must be laughing all the way to the bank.

We are witnessing the greatest collapse in US foreign policy in US History, led by a man who easily is the most isolated leader in modern times. To be remembered for legitimizing mass murder, genocide, rape in all its forms, WMD's in all its forms, terrorist organizations (Hizbullah and Al Qaeda) and a world where Gay folk are systematically and brutally eradicated. All it took was one telephone call.


Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

A Rock and a Hard Place

Stratfor: "If the Russian diplomatic solution to the Syrian imbroglio sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. The logistical complications alone far exceed Russia's diplomatic ambitions. Syria is believed to have 1,000 tons of chemical weapons stockpiles dispersed among 50 different sites across the country."

Watching CNN tonight one would almost believe that President Obama had won a victory over the Russians and Assad. Nothing could be further from the truth, and nothing could be louder than the sounds of the sighs of relief emanating from the White House. These sighs of relief will be temporary at best.

The bottom line is that there will be no military strike, regardless of the outcome of this mismanaged crisis. Possibly Obama might get a short-lived TV victory, but the real victors are Putin and Assad.

It is clear that Putin sees the European and US trepidation over a military strike and he must be chuckling to himself as he holds out an olive branch that bears no fruit.  The French and British governments have already responded positively to the Russian proposal, meeting Russia's objective of splitting the Europeans from the United States and reducing the potential for the United States to assemble a coalition. The US Senate has postponed a vote on the issue and now who knows when or if a vote will even take place.

The only certainty is that the civil war in Syria will continue unabated while the leaderless and divided free world watch with growing unease as the wild animals in Syria continue to feast on their innocent prey.

Stratfor: "Either way, Obama is cornered. He already created a potential exit for himself by seeking authorization from Congress for a strike, and Congress is so far not convinced by his appeals. The Russians have just provided him another exit, but pursuing an impractical diplomatic solution, which would only empower Russia and Iran in a moment of U.S. weakness, will be a difficult pill for the U.S. president to swallow. Obama and his administration will likely spend this week continuing their appeals to Congress to authorize a military response, but if the votes don't add up, he may have to find a creative retreat from this crisis, with or without the Russians."

The Hardest person to awaken is the one already awake - Tagalog Saying

You may send a message around the world in one seventh of a second, yet it may take years to force a simple idea through a quarter inch of a human skull - Charles Kettering

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

From Stratfor:

"Chaos is sweeping the Arab world. Tunisia is in political disarray and can barely control its borders. Libya hardly exists: Tripoli is not the capital of a country but the weak point of arbitration for tribes and militias in far-flung desert reaches. Egypt wallows in a political stasis in which the government has trouble functioning, ideological divisions between the military and Islamists split the country and guns and vigilantism abound. The Sinai Peninsula has become a mini-Afghanistan. The government of Yemen may on a good day control half of its territory. Syria is in a full-fledged civil war with over 100,000 dead. Iraq, too, barely exists as a state and low-intensity violence there is a feature of life. Bahrain and Jordan are much weakened states compared to previous decades. Significantly, none of this anywhere will be solved anytime soon."


To all those alarmists who constantly fear catastrophe for Israel is around the corner, time for a reality check.

"Peace" negotiations with the PLO are nothing more than Israel Aligning itself with The Egyptian military and secular Palestinians (The Palestinian Authority) against Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. It is in Israel's interest to crush Hamas and align itself against Muslim extremism in all its forms. As for a "peace" agreement, it won't be worth the paper its written on, but will serve the purpose of implementing the above. Imagine a Hamas takeover of Judea and Samaria.

This chaos is a huge problem for the US and Europe. The turmoil has turned into a breeding ground for terrorism and will strike into the heart of democracies around the world. Israel has for decades warned the world that Islamic terrorism is not an Israeli, but an international problem. Israel has, since and before inception been fighting this war, mostly alone. I'm sure that Obama would haul Mubarak out from under the bus in a flash if he could. If "good guy" Obama is contemplating his legacy, about right now he should be a worried fellow.

More than anyone, The Russians appear to have a handle on reality. One of Russia's ultimate concerns is the spread of Islamic terrorism in the countries surrounding Mother Russia. The best way of creating a buffer is to ensure that Assad and his shiite partners stay strong against the Sunni aggressors, thus spawning a Sunni - Shiite confrontation across the Islamic world. Israel does not necessarily disagree with this stratagem.

Bottom line is that sooner or later the religion of hatred and intolerance will divide into Sunni and Shiite, religious and secular, arab and non-arab groupings prior to all camps having a full go at each other. This, while the infidel world watches and conspires how to profit from this showdown.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions - Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

or

 Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works.