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
