KATZ: Yes, I think for President Obama in particular he has a different vision of what are Americas real interests. In other words, up until recently, the Middle East has been considered vitally important because of oil, etc. Were now in an era where we dont need Middle Eastern oil to the same extent that we used to. So why do we need to spend so much effort in an area thats very difficult to manage? You know, President Obama has been criticized for being naive, for being utopian. In fact, I think theres a prospect that hes actually far more Machiavellian than weve seen in American leaders. You know, who wanted to do right and, you know, America should step up and get involved. But I think that for him its that, well, if its not vitally important for us, then why should we get involved? GREENE: And of course some of his critics would say that that makes the United States look weak. KATZ: But even that isnt necessarily the worst thing I think for President Obama because if in fact our adversaries become convinced that we are weak, what are they going to do? These are not the kinds of people who cooperate very easily with others. So if they think were no longer a factor in the picture, theyre going to turn on each other. And that, I think, is what we have been seeing, you know, with ISIS having killed a journalist. And then we see the al-Nusra Front releasing a journalist. Its like there competing - no, no, were the nice guys, were the nice al-Qaida - that this is a message that theyre sending. So it strikes me that when others feel that the United States is no longer a factor, theyre not going to cooperate with each other. Theyre going to turn on each other. In other words, that this aphorism when the purpose of an alliance comes to an end and the alliance comes to an end, it doesnt just apply to our alliances. It applies to the bad guys alliances as well.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 10:23:34 +0000
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