Does anyone know what our country's foreign policy is based on under President Obama? He can't wait to exit Iraq and Afghanistan and he has now involved us in a war between two or more groups of noxious tibial communities in Libya. It is rarely a good idea to step in between combatants in domestic disputes. Ask any police officer and he will tell you that the most dangerous situations they face are domestic disputes.
Obama apparently believed that because we have cover from the UN and the Arab League, our intervention in Libya would be greeted with plaudits from the Arab world. If he truly believed that delusion, he has already been proved wrong:
Arab League head criticizes airstrikes as Western forces impose no-fly zone
A coordinated attack by Western forces targeting Libyan air capabilities and armor appears to have succeeded in damaging Libyan military installations and armor, but Arab support for the no-fly zone may be waning.
Arab League head Amr Moussa told reporters Sunday that the Arab league thought the use of force was excessive following an overnight bombing campaign that Libya claims killed at least 48 people.
"What we want is civilians' protection, not shelling more civilians," he was quoted saying by the Associated Press.
Any day now our "disproportionate" response, the same delegitimizing tactic used against Israel when they invaded Gaza in response to hundreds of rocket attacks, will be roundly attacked by our various "allies" and enemies in the Muslim World.
This was one of the gravest errors made by the Bush administration when it invaded Iraq. We failed to appreciate that we would be stepping in between combatants in a domestic dispute and that both sides would demonize us one we were involved. Obama does not seem to have learned anything by our difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He has also managed to alienate all of our allies (and yes, many of them are unsavory) in the Middle East and emboldened our adversaries. The Saudis are looking toward the East; Egypt, whatever the outcome, is going to be less friendly to us in the future; none of our allies will believe that the US under Obama will be reliable under duress. Meanwhile, the Iranians and their proxies are less intimidated and learning by the day that ferocity and indomitable will are more than adequate to discourage America, while oil and nuclear purchases are more than enough to keep the Europeans quiet.
President Obama clearly has a great deal of sympathy with Muslims; he seems to fully accept the faculty lounge, left wing narrative that the United States, a neo-colonialist power, is the font of all distress in the Middle East and elsewhere. He does not grasp that according to our enemies, there is no differentiation between the evil Bush and the evil Obama, just as they do not differentiate between Israelis in settlements or in Tel Aviv (all are occupiers); nor do they differentiate between secular and religious Jews, or secular and religious Christians; they don't care if you are an atheist or agnostic, an environmentalist or a driver of a hummer; we are all the "Other" as far as they are concerned and they will always close ranks against the invader.
It also doesn't matter that we are letting France take the lead; in the eyes of the Muslim World, the US will remain the Great Satan (and Israel the Little Satan) no matter who is nominally leading the charge. We received no "credit" for saving thousands of Muslims in Kosovo and Indonesia and we will receive no "credit" for intervening in Libya.
If even one American life is lost doing whatever it is we are doing in Libya (are we ensuring regime change? enforcing a cease fire? freezing the current status quo?) their blood will be on Obama's hands. He has brought us into a new conflict, too late to avoid the worst carnage, with limited possibilities for success and with no clear policy, no strategic objectives, no American vital interests at stake, and no definition of success. It is as if he opposed all Bush policies simply because they were Bush's and now, having determined George W. Bush was the real enemy, has done a complete Walt Kelly on us: Obama has met the enemy and it is he.
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