The Danger of Weakness, Obama and the world…
The turmoil going on in the Middle East is really not new. Most of the nations located in the area are always upset about something. The riots in the streets of Cairo are but an escalation of the culture in Islamic nations. Egypt is 90% Muslim, although they are by a wide margin more moderate than their counterparts in the area. Obama started his “Tour of service” after he was elected by going to Egypt and apologizing for America.
Obama is NOT seen as a strong leader, Obama is not seen as a “Patriotic” American by the rest of the world. Obama and his cabinet are seen as extremely weak in foreign policy. This is seen as an opening for those that feel America has “Wronged” them in someway.
America has NOT been “Fair” in world affairs, that’s a fact. However fairness is in the eye of the beholder. America has been playing both sides of the fence for so long our vision, and mission in the world is extremely cloudy to EDUCATED people. For people that are far less educated the cloudy aims of America are just oppressive. There is no middle ground when you are dealing with 7th century air breathers.
Weakness in any form, by a leader of a nation is very dangerous. You can be kind, you can be fair and you can be reasonable without being weak. Obama is WEAK. There is seldom a time when he speaks FONDLY of his nation. There is seldom a time when he says anything kind about the nation he leads to the world audience. And that allows our enemy’s to feel they have a friend in the White House.
What we are seeing in the world is “Change” and for those of us that like crystal clear battle lines that “Change” may be somewhat welcome. We are very close to a huge tipping point and this tempest in a tea pot may be the catalyst for something that will change the world as we know it. The way it changes is totally within control of America at this point. We have many options, we still have friends and we still have the ability to “move” our priorities to fit the ground waves. But you can’t do it from under a desk holding on to a teddy bear….
The United States of America is NOT Rome, we don’t “Conquer” and create empires. We have let our heart strings and our need for goods run our foreign policy. After 9-11 we added security to our list of reasons for engagement. IF the world sees America as weak, this has consequences far beyond our shores. The masses in other nations know that the big guy on the block WILL come to their aid if they can put fourth a compelling story and get their message out. When you take that away, where do they turn? They turn to the “Next” biggest, and in the case of the middle east, the biggest guy is always the Fundamentalists of the Islamic faith. Pick your poison.
I for one am not real optimistic about the way this thing is going to turn out.
2 Replies to “The Danger of Weakness, Obama and the world…”
I hate you right now, because I can’t say shit with a mouthful of it. I think you know where I stand. Have I shown my true colors without saying anything “critical?” This will be an interesting discussion on Monday. I hope I’m not thrown in the brig for commenting here. Stranger things have occurred.
Nature abhors a vacuum, as does politics, nation-state politics and Islam. Remove Mubarek who — given — is a dictator, and from the onrushing created vacuum there will be the sucking sound of the Muslim Brotherhood moving in, which in turn will embrace the Taliban, aQ, any terrorist organization that can pull and amass sufficient power to control Egypt. And then, instead of a “friend” to America (and I utilize that term loosely) you’ll have a most def enemy.
Let the rest of the surrounding countries fall towards corrupted Islamists and you’ll, in time, lose the Suez Canal. 102 miles long, 26-feet deep, the Suez is “owned” and “maintained” by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) of Egypt. Under international treaty, it may be used “in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag.” Nasser had nationalized the canal for Egypt in 1956.
That is, until Islamists decide to wrest control by force from the so-called “authority.” Because the Suez, if Islamists control Egypt, is in their back yard and begging to be shut down, blocked or destroyed.
You block or disable the Suez canal and you block oil movement and military ship movement. This WILL impact the US economy which, in little time, will come to an oil stoppage. The only remaining venue will be to intervene militarily which, you realize, Obama will refuse to do. And no other Western nation will do so unless the US takes the first and largest and most costly step.
BZ