and this coming from one of the most astute ME living there... This failure includes Iraq, Iran Afghanistan, and marginalizing the US in the ME... It is not about "likability" but about being discounted as not being a serious and responsible player. Do not complain when it happens Hollywood as you have been warned..
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=105754 >>> Those (Obama's speeches) were noble thoughts, but how do they square with >>> other American concerns, such as the containment of Iran, the avoidance of >>> sectarian conflict that might engulf the region, the stability of oil >>> supplies, and much else? Obama feels that an America forever signaling its >>> desire to go home will make things better by making America more likable. >>> That’s not how the Middle East works. Politics abhor a vacuum, and as >>> everyone sees how eager the US is to leave, the more they will try to fill >>> the ensuing vacuum to their advantage, and the more intransigent they will >>> be when Washington seeks political solutions to prepare its getaway. That >>> explains the upsurge of bombings in Iraq lately, and it explains why the >>> Taliban feel no need to surrender anything in Afghanistan. [snip} >>> Where the Obama administration erred was in not seeing how dialogue would >>> buy Iran more time to advance its nuclear projects, precisely what the >>> Iranians wanted, while breaking the momentum of international efforts to >>> force Tehran to concede something – for example temporary suspension of >>> uranium enrichment. For Obama to rebuild such momentum today seems >>> virtually impossible, when the US itself has made it abundantly clear that >>> it believes war is a bad idea. >>> Attacking Iran is indeed a bad idea, but in the poker game he has been >>> playing with Tehran, Obama didn’t need to show all of his cards. He’s >>> virtually folded over Iraq, is stumbling in Afghanistan, and does not >>> occupy himself very much with Lebanon, all places where the Iranians can >>> and are hurting the Americans. By placing most of his chips on engagement, >>> the president has failed to develop a more multifaceted strategy while >>> relinquishing other forms of coercion that could have been effective in >>> Washington’s bargaining with the Islamic Republic. [snip] >>> Barack Obama’s devotees may imagine that because he spent a few years >>> abroad as a boy, he is well equipped to understand our complicated world. >>> Perhaps he is, but his approach to the greater Middle East, shorn of the >>> soaring rhetoric, has been artless and arrogant. The president is being >>> tied up every which way by his foes, who can plainly see that the Obama >>> vision is an unsystematic one. If ever the US has been close to achieving >>> potentially terminal self-marginalization in the region, it is now. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
