For Barack Obama, Syria Is Best Forgotten This Election Year -- Fouad Ajami, The Daily Star
The ordeal of Syria has been a rebuttal of what the diplomacy of Barack Obama once promised and stood for. It is largely forgotten now that Syria and Iran were the two regimes in the Greater Middle East that Obama had promised to “engage.”
Back when he was redeemer in chief, Obama had been certain that the regime in Damascus would yield to his powers of persuasion. He cut Damascus a wide swath, stepped aside when the Syrian regime all but laid to waste the gains of the 2005 Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, assassinating and terrorizing its way back into its smaller neighbor.
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My Comment: I could not have said it any better .... kudos to Fouad Ajami for always seeing the 'big picture' when it comes to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
As to what is my take on Syria and it's future .....
The conflict in Syria is now a full scale civil war, with a huge segment of the population clearly determined to overthrow the Assad regime and his supporters regardless of the cost. This is now also a sectarian conflict in the form that US military commanders were always afraid would engulf Iraq during the American occupation .... but instead is now engulfing Syria.
We will soon have daily casualty reports in the range of 200+ killed, and even more wounded. Outside forces will intervene directly or indirectly .... Turkish, Russian, Iranian, Israeli, NATO, Gulf states, Arab Jihadists, etc. .... providing military supplies, intelligence, humanitarian aid, fighters, and diplomatic support. And when this civil war is over .... Assad and his family will either be dead or in some other country, 100,000 - 200,000 Syrians will be dead, a million plus refugees in need of immediate care, and the Alawite community that has been a part of Syria for centuries now fleeing for their lives from the retribution of the Sunni community.
Update: On a historical side note .... there is an article by Seymour Hersh from the New Yorker magazine in 2009 that looks into U.S. efforts to open relations with Syria. In it he talks about President Obama's engagement with Syria, his use of Sen John Kerry (and others) to open doors with the Syrian regime, and why they differed with President Bush when it came to dealing with President Assad. The article was written in 2009 and it is a puff piece for President Obama and his approach to the Syrian regime .... and a critique of President Bush's policy towards Syria. But here is the kicker .... when you have finished reading the article .... you end up realizing that Seymour Hersh, John Kerry, and everyone else including President Obama were completely wrong in their analysis of Syrian President Assad .... and how right President Bush was in assessing the Syrian strongman.
2 comments:
Color me surprised. You posted another conservative view about how you disagree with the Obama White House handling by posting something a Bush W. supporter wrote. I wish things weren't so black and white on this blog. I enjoy reading your "tippers" but your slant turns me away more than it keeps me here. Is this what you are going for? I have come to expect it but I don't know if you know that you are aware. Don't get me wrong, love the site. Just don't want another Drudge.
Thank you AHo for your comment. I am just providing a non-American view towards American policies .... a viewpoint that comes from consuming all points of view .... including those from Seymour Hersh AND on the other spectrum through pundits like Fouad Ajami. And while I am a fierce critic of President Obama .... I was also a fierce critic of President Bush when he was in the Oval office .... and for your info some of his supporters labelled me a progressive (or worst).
What I try my best to do in this blog .... and it is not easy task because I do have time constraints with other projects .... is to use the media's own reports and analysis and then point out their contradictions. I used the Seymour Hersh 2009 article to illustrate this point .... it shows the arrogance and confidence of a new administration in the White House .... pursuing a policy and philosophy that they knew was right. Unfortunately .... with hindsight .... it was not .... as Fouad Ajami's sarcastically writes in his post.
As to being compared to Drudge .... I found that interesting .... but not applicable. To begin .... on defense/war/national security stories .... what he posts is usually 12-24 hours after I have posted the same story. And yes .... according to my counter/tracking program someone from Drudge does visit this blog once every 2 or 3 days .... I know that he sings to the Republican beat .... while I sing to no one but myself.
In conclusion .... I must still thank you for your criticism. I read everyone's comments, I treat them with respect, and I do take them seriously. But I am a person who has experienced a lifetime of knowing what is "black and white" .... and as a result I just cannot help myself .... even though I know that it may disappoint loyal readers like you.
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