After flubbing his plan for an attack on Syria and being trapped into a
Russian-sponsored process designed to preserve the Assad regime, President Obama
doesn’t have much foreign-policy credibility these days. But what little he has
left is about to be spent on a new diplomatic initiative with Iran that will
apparently be kicked off this week in New York with a
face-to-face meeting between the leader of the free world and Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani. Perhaps even more than Obama’s effective handing off
of responsibility for Syria’s chemical weapons to Russian President Vladimir
Putin, the appointment with Rouhani will make it clear that this administration
has no appetite for a confrontation with its enemies, signaling a new era in the
Middle East in which the tyrants of Tehran and Damascus and their terrorist
auxiliaries need not fear the United States.
That is a conclusion that the president’s defenders reject absolutely. They
claim that whatever the provenance of the Russian proposal or the lack of
“style” points (to use the president’s own words) in his fumbling approach to
Congress on Syria, if it results in Assad losing his chemical weapons it is
still a good thing. They argue that Obama’s inability to pull the trigger on
Syria will have no impact on Iran’s evaluation of American intentions on its
nuclear ambitions. Further, they say the U.S. has nothing to lose in talking to
Iran and much to gain, since failure in negotiations will simply strengthen the
president’s hand when he then decides to use force.
If the administration was operating from a position of strength and with its
intentions to uphold its interests undoubted, then these arguments might make
sense. But the problem with both the Syrian fiasco and the opening to Iran is
that it is no secret that the president has agreed to them out of weakness, not
strength.
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- Judy Chaffee
- This site is the inspiration of a former reporter/photographer for one of New England's largest daily newspapers and for various magazines. The intent is to direct readers to interesting political articles, and we urge you to visit the source sites. Any comments may be noted on site or directed to KarisChaf at gmail.
Monday, September 23, 2013
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