OBAMAS SPEECH LAUNCHING WAR AGAINST THE ISLAMIC STATE- PROBABLY A CASE OF TOO MUCH TALK AND TOO LITTLE ACTION (AGAIN) #obama #obamaadministration #speech #ISIS #islamicstate #americanallies #war #counterinsurgency #americanpresident #americanforeignpolicy #superpowerinretreat #nobootsontheground In his speech declaring war against the Islamic state, the dithering American President has once more committed his usual blunder - asking for things publically without being sure that he will get them. In this way, not only will he further undermine American credibility (already at an unusually low ebb), if his allies fail to rally around him, he will again prove himself incapable of grasping harsh geopolitical realities. It is extremely perplexing how he realistically plans to handle a war of jihadist counterinsurgency against the West without boots on the ground. His intentions of using the hocus pocus Iraqi forces and an array of doubtful allies, who are neither willing nor able to fight this war while the Americans watch from the trenches, remain questionable if not outright naive. A now-retired foreign diplomat, in a private conversation we had, was perhaps not far off the mark when he described Obama as the most dangerous president the Americans have had since Woodrow Wilson, since he fails to understand the pitfalls of a power vaccuum created when a superpower projects the image of retreat. Indeed it seems that Obamas perceived idealism is his greatest weakness and weakness is a cardinal sin in international affairs. Not surprising, then, that Americans themselves have also rated him as their worst president in recent times. Elliot A. Cohen, in the latest edition of American Interest, has pertinently described the Obama Administration as vacillating, inept and feckless, more likely to presume that the 21st century thing would be to tweet rather than invade, with no sense of historical realities, believing that history is something to be transcended by sophistication or the Presidents charisma. Such inability of making sense of historical realities has meant that the fruits of Obamas administration have translated into a repeated failure to contain a series of crises: Crimea, the war in Syria, Afghanistans growing antipathy towards the US, loss of influence in Egypt, ineffective nuclear talks with Iran, serious rupture of relations with Israel and more recently the unhindered advance of the Islamic state. Professor Seib commenting for DefenceOne has got the Presidents speech nailed: The speech was nicely written, if you care about presidential syntax. But it reflected no sense of history. We have been down this path before. And hell hath no fury like History scorned. gove-media/portal/wts/ugmcfOb%7CBrmbbxzz-cq8fy6c6BzD%7C-a
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 11:50:01 +0000