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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Obama's Persian Tutorial |
| 2009-06-23 |
| by Fouad Ajami ... That ambivalence at the heart of the Obama diplomacy about freedom has not served American policy well in this crisis. We had tried to "cheat" -- an opening to the regime with an obligatory wink to those who took to the streets appalled by their rulers' cynicism and utter disregard for their people's intelligence and common sense -- and we were caught at it. Mr. Obama's statement that "the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as had been advertised" put on cruel display the administration's incoherence. For once, there was an acknowledgment by this young president of history's burden: "Either way, we were going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighborhood and is pursuing nuclear weapons." No Wilsonianism on offer here. Mr. Obama will have to acknowledge the "foreignness" of foreign lands. His breezy self-assurance has been put on notice. The Obama administration believed its own rhetoric that the pro-Western March 14 coalition in Lebanon had ridden Mr. Obama's coattails to an electoral victory. (It had given every indication that it expected similar vindication in Iran.) But the claim about Lebanon was hollow and reflected little understanding of the forces at play in Lebanon's politics. That contest was settled by Lebanese rules, and by the push and pull of Saudi and Syrian and Iranian interests in Lebanon. Mr. Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo did not reshape the Islamic landscape. I was in Saudi Arabia when Mr. Obama traveled to Riyadh and Cairo. The earth did not move, life went on as usual. There were countless people puzzled by the presumption of the entire exercise, an outsider walking into sacred matters of their faith. In Saudi Arabia, and in the Arabic commentaries of other lands, there was unease that so complicated an ideological and cultural terrain could be approached with such ease and haste. Days into his presidency, it should be recalled, Mr. Obama had spoken of his desire to restore to America's relation with the Muslim world the respect and mutual interest that had existed 30 or 20 years earlier. It so happened that he was speaking, almost to the day, on the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution -- and that the time span he was referring to, his golden age, covered the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the American standoff with Libya, the fall of Beirut to the forces of terror, and the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Liberal opinion would have howled had this history been offered by George W. Bush, but Barack Obama was granted a waiver. Little more than three decades ago, Jimmy Carter, another American president convinced that what had come before him could be annulled and wished away, called on the nation to shed its "inordinate fear of communism," and to put aside its concern with "traditional issues of war and peace" in favor of "new global issues of justice, equity and human rights." We had betrayed our principles in the course of the Cold War, he said, "fought fire with fire, never thinking that fire is quenched with water." The Soviet answer to that brave, new world was the invasion of Afghanistan in December of 1979. Mr. Carter would try an atonement in the last year of his presidency. He would pose as a born-again hawk. It was too late in the hour for such redemption. It would take another standard-bearer, Ronald Reagan, to see that great struggle to victory. Iran's ordeal and its ways shattered the Carter presidency. President Obama's Persian tutorial has just begun. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Maybe the WH spokesperson misspoke. maybe he meant to say was: But privately Obama advisers are crediting his Cairo speech for inspiring,the government to shoot the protesters, especially the young ones, who are now posing the most direct challenge to the republicÂ’s Islamic authority in its 30-year history. Perhaps static on the line when Ralm and the MSM were having their morning conference call to go over their talking points. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-06-23 14:48 |
| #7 I think Mike is right, here. It comes down to simple vanity & conceit, really. Obama thinks his "soft-power" approach is the ONLY way that can ever possibly work despite the fact that such an approach has failed miserably throughout the course of history when push comes to shove. Yet he is so convinced of his superior intellect, powers of persuasion, and singular greatness he is blind to all the signs around him that the soft-power approach-- while on occasion effective in the short-term if only because it serves to delay the inevitable-- ultimately leads to greater suffering and eventual failure. In essence it's all about HIM and what HE is capable of, regardless of the reality that surrounds him. That's NPD in full effect. |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2009-06-23 12:42 |
| #6 From the Hot Air link above: But privately Obama advisers are crediting his Cairo speech for inspiring the protesters, especially the young ones, who are now posing the most direct challenge to the republicÂ’s Islamic authority in its 30-year history. An obvious veiled attempt at checking Rahm's "never waste a good crisis" box.... even if a few hundred unarmed young people get shot down in cold blood. Very presidential I'd say, very BahÃa de Cochinos. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-06-23 11:51 |
| #5 Did you forget the /SARC tag spuper? Obama's WH saying that his Cairo speech inspired the protesting and uprising in Iran is disgusting and despicable. But he still is going to invite those who murdered protesters like Neda (while he was out eating ice cream - how inspiring) to 4th of july celebrations. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-06-23 11:48 |
| #4 On the other hand the Obama administration is now unofficially taking credit for the unrest in Iran. This implies that regime destabilization, perhaps regime change has become an official policy. That's a move in the right direction IMO. |
| Posted by: Spuper Bonaparte2182 2009-06-23 11:26 |
| #3 Never attribute to malice what can adequately be explained by stupidity and ego. Obama is convinced of his ability to work miracles of diplomacy. He went to Harvard! he's got a first-class temprament! He's an intellectual and scholar! And he's smarter than Bush! All the cool kids think he's boffo keen!! He said he would negotiate with the Iranians and win them over with sweet reason and by gosh that's just what he's gonna do, and he's not gonna let these protestors and neocons and inconveniently-vivid videos of people being shot down in the streets stop him! |
| Posted by: Mike 2009-06-23 10:39 |
| #2 From Atlas Shrugs: Obama's silence in the face of the violent and brutal Islamic crackdown on the Iranian people peacefully demonstrating for freedom is in keeping with Obama's previous silences: 1. Silent on the Black Muslim Riverdale bombers. 2. Silent on the release of the Black Panthers voter intimidation case. His department of justice ordered the case dropped. 3. Silent on the murder of Private William Long by a Black Muslim - Issued a very weak statement, though he loudly condemned the Tiller murder. 4. Silent on the French plane that crashed in the ocean, possibly blown up by the two Muslim terrorists on board. 5. Silent on Iran - Issued a weakly worded statement. On the other side of the coin we have: 1. Obama's bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia. 2. Obama's pro Islam speech in Cairo, with many fabricated platitudes about the history of Islam. 3. Obama instructing Eric Holder to issue a memo stating that Muslims were not to be discriminated against. 4. Releases Muslim terrorists from Gitmo to Bermuda, so that they can go into the restaurant business and hang on the beaches there. 5. Eliminating the phrase "war on terrorism" and replacing it with "overseas contingency operation" and "terorists" with "man made disasters". There is a definite pattern in the behavior by Barack Hussein Obama toward the worldwide ummah (in keeping with being raised a Muslim in Indonesia). hat tip Jonathan Galt |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-06-23 04:19 |
| #1 That ambivalence at the heart of the Obama diplomacy |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-06-23 01:12 |