We commend the Russians for joining us in Syria to fight our #1 enemy, climate change...WH Press Secretary Tweet (satire)
In my last post, I made the claim that Putin outflanked Obama again. And it now appears that observation has panned out. Within just two days of Obama meeting with Putin at the U.N., Russian aircraft launched an air assault in Syria. In fact, the Russians onlygave us a few hours notice of those air strikes. Some reports indicate it even took the Pentagon by surprise.
Unfortunately, there's one conspicuous problem. All credible reports from the region indicate that the Russians did not attack ISIS forces. Rather, they attacked rebel forces fighting the Assad regime and ISIS. If we were flies on the wall in the Oval Office, we would have heard Obama and company utter just one word: OOPS! (An exclamation that perfectly summarizes their foreign policy in the last seven years).
In September 2013, I posted a piece summing up the Obama administration Syrian policy. In short, I wrote: "Assad remains in power and gets away with murder." At the time, Amir Taheri, writing for the NY Post, made this prescient statement: "In a blink of an eye, Obama has shrunk into second fiddle to Putin." Even Marco Rubio was more perceptive than the Obama administration. Several weeks ago, he predicted this: "The Russians will begin to fly combat missions in that region. Not just targeting ISIS, but in order to prop up Assad...{Putin} is trying to replace us as the single most important power broker in the Middle East." Not bad for a guy whose only running for president.
It's become more apparent that our feckless foreign policy is no longer feared by our enemies. If the last seven years of failed foreign policy initiatives don't convince you, perhaps this will. Just yesterday, Palestinian president Abbas proclaimed he will no longer abide by the Oslo Agreements with Israel. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu was correct in his immediate response to Abbas when he said the Palestinian posture will now "encourage incitement and unrest in the Middle East."
Perceived geo-political and military weakness has always invited thugs like Putin and others to rattle their sabres. In addition, since America is also perceived as no longer being on that "wall," the bad guys believe they can just climb over it and fear no consequences. Ralph Peters recently wrote: "We have no president---we have a scared child covering his eyes at a horror movie. And Putin knows it." Unfortunately so do most of our allies and the host of other global thugs.
In my last post, I made the claim that Putin outflanked Obama again. And it now appears that observation has panned out. Within just two days of Obama meeting with Putin at the U.N., Russian aircraft launched an air assault in Syria. In fact, the Russians onlygave us a few hours notice of those air strikes. Some reports indicate it even took the Pentagon by surprise.
Unfortunately, there's one conspicuous problem. All credible reports from the region indicate that the Russians did not attack ISIS forces. Rather, they attacked rebel forces fighting the Assad regime and ISIS. If we were flies on the wall in the Oval Office, we would have heard Obama and company utter just one word: OOPS! (An exclamation that perfectly summarizes their foreign policy in the last seven years).
In September 2013, I posted a piece summing up the Obama administration Syrian policy. In short, I wrote: "Assad remains in power and gets away with murder." At the time, Amir Taheri, writing for the NY Post, made this prescient statement: "In a blink of an eye, Obama has shrunk into second fiddle to Putin." Even Marco Rubio was more perceptive than the Obama administration. Several weeks ago, he predicted this: "The Russians will begin to fly combat missions in that region. Not just targeting ISIS, but in order to prop up Assad...{Putin} is trying to replace us as the single most important power broker in the Middle East." Not bad for a guy whose only running for president.
It's become more apparent that our feckless foreign policy is no longer feared by our enemies. If the last seven years of failed foreign policy initiatives don't convince you, perhaps this will. Just yesterday, Palestinian president Abbas proclaimed he will no longer abide by the Oslo Agreements with Israel. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu was correct in his immediate response to Abbas when he said the Palestinian posture will now "encourage incitement and unrest in the Middle East."
Perceived geo-political and military weakness has always invited thugs like Putin and others to rattle their sabres. In addition, since America is also perceived as no longer being on that "wall," the bad guys believe they can just climb over it and fear no consequences. Ralph Peters recently wrote: "We have no president---we have a scared child covering his eyes at a horror movie. And Putin knows it." Unfortunately so do most of our allies and the host of other global thugs.
