The slow American withdrawal from world affairs has been apparent for a long time, but has never been so glaringly evident as this week in the Middle East.
Hamas is at war with Israel, the brutal struggle in Syria frustrates the world, the terrorists of ISIS are making serious progress in Iraq — and now another attempt to deprive Iran of nuclear weapons has, so far, been thwarted.
The United States has a position of sorts in each of these arenas, but it’s not powerful in any of them. American influence has faded.
The world’s governments no longer worry as much as they once did about what Washington wants, partly because Washington doesn’t know what it wants. U.S. policy has become erratic and half-hearted, subject to arbitrary change without notice.
Barack Obama, who apparently distrusts American power, personifies this approach. He moves capriciously from subject to subject. One week he’s furious about Syria and announces that Bashar al-Assad has to go. When Assad doesn’t go, Obama loses interest. He seems always to be making a fresh start. When he’s not doing that, he’s “pivoting,” shifting his interest from one continent to another. He seems detached much of the time, then committed, then detached again.
On Libya, for instance, Obama opposed taking part in the UN strike to oust Muammar Gaddafi. Then suddenly he decided to join the French and other participants. The American bombs he sent became the key to destroying Gaddafi and his reign, but Obama claimed America had played only a peripheral role.
An Obama adviser famously described Libya as a new model for American intervention, “leading from behind.” Whatever it was, the allies didn’t follow through and Libya was left in chaos. Terrorists gratefully inherited a huge cache of weapons.
More at National Post
Before we got involved in South Africa (anti-apartheid actions) then before we got involved in Somalia and Darfur some people used to complain that America didn’t cared if black people suffered.
Obama has shown, by siding against Ghaddafi, that he cares more for Arab/Muslims than for blacks (at least in Libya where blacks were the biggest losers.
Ghaddafi had been the biggest protector of blacks living in Libya.
With him gone blacks have been murdered and, if alive, forced to leave the country.
The winners in Libya (as a result of Obama’s policy) have been the Islamic terrorists who gained territory and wealth and armaments.
When Israel started fighting Hamas in Gaza, Obama sided with Hamas.
This is odd because GAYS live freely in Israel.
Gays are thrown off tall(ish) buildings in Gaza!
Today Obama tried to force Israel to put up with those tunnels rather than destroy them and any human shields inside them.
Obama might be ignorant of history….his own history.
Egypt knew Gazan children were used as workers inside the tunnels smuggling between Egypt and Gaza but Egypt sent POISON GAS into all those tunnels!
They killed everyone in the tunnels at the time.
Not a peep from Obama against the gov’t of Egypt (at the time it was the Muslim Brotherhood!)
Obama shugs, but he shrugs according to some weird personal set of standards.
Obama may be confusing the purpose of Hamas’ tunnels with that of the Smuggler tunnels on our border, and be wondering why Israel wont let the invaders, I mean illegal immigrants in with welcome arms, give them a place to live, free food, and then let them loose. So what if they have bomb strapped to their bodies, they just want to leave their fellow violent terrorist gang members in Gaza so they can mingle around shopping malls, schools, and have a bang-up time. (/sarc)