Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:
The US has become so impotent in the Middle East that Egypt and United Arab Emirates have stepped up to fight Muslim terrorists, without bothering to mention it to us. The Obama Administration was taken by surprise.
This might be a good thing, in the long run. Washington and Jefferson warned against entangling alliances. Classical Liberals argue it’s not the federal government’s job to be the world’s policeman; we should let other nations sort out their own problems.
President Obama might end up implementing the most libertarian foreign policy since the founding.
Or he might be a clean, bright, good-looking, articulate Black man who has been promoted above his level of competence.
Hard to say at this point what his legacy will be.
Joe Doakes
It is indeed.
But I have a hunch both Jimmy Carter and the Neville Chamberlain estates are deeply thankful for it.
The larger point? Obama may do for our foreign policy what his economic policy will inevitably do for the economy at this rate; bring them back to their Jeffersonian origins through the sheer unsustainability of their Obamian reality.
For 500 years the Middle East was ruled by outsiders, mostly the Ottomans, then by the English and French. Is reconquering the region what you are suggesting? Are Arabs not capable of self-governance? ;^)
I think you’ve missed the point with almost geometric anti-precision, Emery.
Mitch, I wish I was as optimistic about where Obama’s unsustainable policies are leading us …………… Unrelated but thank you once again for doing the work which leads to my favorite reading on the web!! (Commenters included – too many to mention)
I think you’ve missed the point with almost geometric anti-precision, Emery.
Par for the course for a person who does not know whether 100,000 is more or less than 5,000.
The Leftist view on the ME these days is that we have to choose between three options:
-Endure constant low-level, and occasionally high level terrorist attacks.
-Commit to full scale invasion and occupation of all Muslim lands between the Mediterranian and the Arabian Sea.
-Declare Israel to be our enemy.
“B” please. And can you throw in “crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women” while you’re at it?
Kidding, of course. I’m more of a Revelations 15:2 kind of guy: sit in a nice comfy chair in North Dakota and solve millions of peoples’ problems at the touch of a button.
“Are Arabs not capable of self-governance?” On the evidence, yes.
I do not know about Arabs per se, but both Pakistan and Afghanistan contain federally administered tribal areas that are not governed by them at all.
The nation-state is a European invention, and not a very good one to judge by 20th century history. How many peaceful, prosperous, independent, ethnically and religiously diverse nation states exist in the world? Canada doesn’t count — they are dependent on the United States.
My four-point plan for the ME:
1) Drill baby, drill. Plus nukes.
2) Not one drop of American blood or one cent of American treasure to be spent there under any circumstances.
2) Sell Israel and Kurdistan (for cash on the barrel) anything they want
3) Assess all intra-Islamic conflicts every six months. Determine who is losing. Sell them (for cash on the barrel) whatever small arms and ammunition they want.
PM – Australia. Exception proves the rule?
I don’t think that Australia should count as ethnically diverse:
white 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html
The Aussies have lots of crowded, poor, third world countries nearby. They have a somewhat different attitude towards unrestricted immigration than the Current Occupant.