In the last few weeks in particular, American foreign policy has never looked worse. To describe it as the "Keystone Cops of Diplomacy and War-Making" would be too charitable. The fault lies not just with President Barack Hussein Obama, our obsessively pro-Arab and pro-Muslim president, or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, his easily compromised sidekick, but also with the inert and incompetent Republican political establishment. Here are just a few of their glaring mistakes, not only with regard to Libya but the entire Middle East.
First, as I have said many times in recent columns, the United States has taken its "eye off of the ball." Israel and Iran are the key to Middle East stability and the potential for peace in the region. Israel, of course, is our only Westernized ally in this part of the world; it shares our Judeo-Christian heritage and is a buffer to the Islamic radicalization now under way to an even greater extent in the Middle East. It needs to be protected and cherished, not disparaged and threatened for not rolling over and ceding to the demands of the Palestinians. While Obama and Clinton have recently told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu that he must essentially accede to these Palestinian demands for a state along the lines they propose, or risk having borders imposed on it in the near future, where are the Republicans in the defense of the Jewish state? You do not hear any loud screams coming out of them on Capitol Hill. They are inert and preoccupied primarily with their so-called budget issues, where they have failed to get anything meaningful accomplished.
As for Iran, rather than committing valuable American resources to questionable adventures like Libya, the United States should be doing everything possible to overthrow the mullahs in Tehran. If they fall, and Iran becomes a secular state, then any nuclear weapons in the possession of this non-Arab Persian state, now or in the future, will at least likely be controlled by rational persons. And, an end to the neo-Nazi Islamic regime – which executes the opposition at a rate now exceeding one every eight hours and admits to wanting to kill all Jews and Christians – would end Iran's terrorist support of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and other radical groups throughout the Middle East and the world, including here in the United States.
To hear Obama and Clinton try to justify their intervention in Libya as a humanitarian issue was particularly insulting, especially to Iranians who yearn to be free and have been fighting for their freedom, with greater geo-political stakes, far longer than the Libyans. What we have seen in Iran is an ongoing genocide of students and others in the opposition, for which I have filed suit in Washington, D.C., federal court for crimes against humanity. But a court case is far from enough. Why have at least three successive American administrations, comprised of both political parties, ignored and appeased Iran for decades, when it is the key to restructuring the Middle East, removing the nuclear threat and stopping the Islamic revolution in its tracks? The negligence – if charitably you can call it that – borders on the criminal.
Second, even assuming that Libya is an important "adventure" and conceding that multilateral action may be preferable, multilateralism is not worthwhile when it delays action, which if taken quickly can change the balance of power, save lives and also be effective. President George W. Bush made this mistake with Iraq, when for at least nine months he waited to remove Saddam Hussein and asked for United Nations approval and support, but got none. In the end, his dithering and waiting likely gave Hussein time to hide or destroy his weapons of mass destruction and Bush – to save face when none were then found – sought to disingenuously justify the costly war as an effort to create democracy in this essentially autocratic and factionalized state, run in large part by Muslim terrorist militias in the wake of Saddam's removal. To date, nine years later, there is no real democracy in Iraq; only mostly radical Shiite factions loyal to the mullahs in Iran, not the United States. These factions themselves are on the verge of yet another civil war in the Middle East.
Second, even assuming that Libya is an important "adventure" and conceding that multilateral action may be preferable, multilateralism is not worthwhile when it delays action, which if taken quickly can change the balance of power, save lives and also be effective. President George W. Bush made this mistake with Iraq, when for at least nine months he waited to remove Saddam Hussein and asked for United Nations approval and support, but got none. In the end, his dithering and waiting likely gave Hussein time to hide or destroy his weapons of mass destruction and Bush – to save face when none were then found – sought to disingenuously justify the costly war as an effort to create democracy in this essentially autocratic and factionalized state, run in large part by Muslim terrorist militias in the wake of Saddam's removal. To date, nine years later, there is no real democracy in Iraq; only mostly radical Shiite factions loyal to the mullahs in Iran, not the United States. These factions themselves are on the verge of yet another civil war in the Middle East.
Similarly, Obama's effort to get NATO and other Arab states on board for his Libyan campaign – which he never really wanted in the first place but was forced on him politically by the perception, if not reality, that he has shown indecisiveness in foreign affairs – delayed removing Gadhafi when he was weak and easier to remove in the early days of the civil war. With the administration's new and contrived goal of merely stopping bloodshed to the Libyan opposition, Obama has sown the seeds for a divided Libya – now that Gadhafi has regained the upper hand – and a protracted war that accomplishes nothing, just as we have seen in Iraq, is likely. Again, where has the Republican establishment in Congress been in taking a lead or even having a real voice here? It knew or should have known where Obama and his secretary of state were taking us. To hear their screams and political hackery now are hypocrisy and dishonesty at its worst.
The situation in the Middle East is not a game show! Nor should it be driven by television commentators on Fox News or MSNBC and the failed politicians they call consultants. It is serious business.
What we have "accomplished" in the Middle East in the last many weeks, months and years is frightening, and if American foreign policy and war-making continues along these lines, it will not simply be a question of poor foreign relations. As the price of oil spikes higher due to the mess furthered by the U.S. government establishment, and as Americans lose more of their hard-earned income to higher gas prices during what is in effect a continuing economic depression, the cost of having Keystone Cops in charge will become increasingly apparent.
The 2012 election is likely to be driven not just by domestic but also world politics. Our next president must have both credentials and, as importantly, be honest, competent, have a logical world vision and be strong and principled. Certainly, no one in either political party qualifies at this time. The future is not bright.
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