Posts Tagged ‘Obama’
The United States and the Middle East: Hoist On Its Own Petard
Who’s the fucking superpower around here?” — President Bill Clinton after his first meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996. “Don’t do stupid shit.” — President Barack Obama commenting on the U.S. military intervention in Libya in 2011. “We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia, or…
Read MoreIs It Biden’s Turn to be Boxed In?
It was known as early as 2006 that additional troops would not make a difference; that the Afghan government would collapse without U.S. support; and that the Afghan government was a criminal syndicate. In private meetings with Obama, Biden dismissed the intelligence community’s view of the Taliban as nothing more than a “new al Qaeda.” It wrongly predicted that the Taliban would project a “global jihadist ideology.” The fact that Biden was so right 12 years ago probably explains his stubbornness in standing up to the Pentagon, which was still arguing for a “conditions based withdrawal.” Biden was not going to allow the Pentagon to pursue its “forever war” any longer.
Read MoreObama and the Search for Audacity
Obama needed to pay more attention to Ronald Reagan’s dictum that “personnel is policy.” Instead of appointing serious managers of national security policy who could think outside the box—perhaps audaciously—he filled his national security team with tired veterans of Cold War thinking.
Read MoreObama’s Memoir Offers Insights Into Major Shortcomings
With the possible exception of the memoir of President Ulysses Grant, there has never been a presidential memoir as useful or insightful as Barack Obama’s “The Promised Land.” Interestingly, he provides clues to the shortcomings of his performance that was successful in many ways but nevertheless disappointing to his devoted following.
Read MoreRecent News and Latest Book
Meet the Newest Apologist for Israel: Rear Admiral John Kirby
Tuesday’s press conference highlighted the worst of the administration’s predictable defenses and apologies for Israel’s illegal and immoral military campaign against Palestinian civilians. Once again, the worst of Kirby’s remarks were not referenced in the Washington Post and received an anodyne one-sentence summary in the New York Times. I believe it is important to understand the meaning and implications of Kirby’s callous and callow remarks.
Washington Post Believes U.S. & Israel “Can Get Back on the Same Page”
President Biden seems to believe that the recent U.S. abstention on the cease-fire resolution at the United Nations Security Council and the feckless warnings about avoiding a humanitarian nightmare in southern Gaza allow his administration to pose as an “honest broker” between Israelis and Palestinians. The United States has never been a genuine “honest broker.”
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