........... he has already been impeached as Leader of the Free World. Any observer of Obama’s collapse will have noted his marginalization in international councils.
Britain flatly refused to go along with him in enforcing a Red Line in Syria. Angela Merkel now arguably the central Western figure in the Eastern European crisis. Japan has been slowly taking over the job of anchoring the Pacific alliance. Perhaps nowhere is Obama’s diminished stature so obviously underscored as in today’s headlines: “Iraq turns to Iran for help …”
Just how low Obama’s standing has fallen can by gauged by comparison. George W. Bush’s Coalition of the Willing in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and around the world was absolutely massive.
In Afghanistan: Afghanistan, United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand, NATO, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, ISAF, Afghanistan Northern Alliance
In the Philippines: Philippines, United States, Australia, Indonesia
In Somalia/Horn of Africa: NATO, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, France, China, Djibouti, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, United Kingdom, United States
In Georgia: (completed) Georgia, United States
In Kyrgyzstan: (completed) South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, United States
Bush even had UN and Congressional authority for his actions (which Hillary voted for). By contrast Obama’s 2011 Military Intervention in Libya was undergirded by a far narrower set of allies and was undertaken with only UN approval. Now, as al-Qaeda overruns the Middle East six years into his administration, Obama could not even dream of gathering such a coalition again. He’s not even welcome in Cairo any more. Long time ally Israel’s Prime Minister reportedly loathes him. Russia’s top officials have even refused to take the Secretary of State’s and the Secretary of Defense’s calls.
Obama’s new coalition is the coalition of anyone who will talk to him; whoever will still listen to him. Right now he’s trying to get Iran to join up with him but hasn’t worked it out. Things have reached the level of the absurd. U.S. considers air strikes, action with Iran to halt Iraq rebels says one headline, meaning if the IRG will attack, the USAF will support.
Of course everybody knows that if Iraq is saved it will be Iran’s for the taking. They make war for oil. Obama will get a cheap bottle of wine, a note of thanks and shown the door, which is the fate of junior partners. Obama is now running in rings around a table; against Iran’s nukes one moment, but allying with them in Iraq the next; against ISIS in Iraq, then supporting them in Syria. He has truly become all chumps to all men. In the event the door to Iranian cooperation has been slammed shut. But just how desperate the administration was indicated by their willingness to chance it.
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[ As I've said before, Obama's foreign policy doctrine isn't Leading from Behind, it's Taking it from Behind. ]
http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2014/06/16/when-things-change/ |
