The practical effect of leading from behind
I hate to sound cold blooded, but the US should never go to war PURELY for moral reasons. There are atrocities all over the world, every bit as offensive to our morality, yet we do not involve ourselves. The massacre in Rwanda and Darfur are just two recent examples. There are many others.
Our decision to go to war must have a moral component, which is fully integrated with a specific strategic goal that will enhance the security posture of the United States.
It may be controversial to point it out, but when George W Bush invaded Iraq, it was part of a broader strategic plan. The plan was not simply to depose Saddam Hussein and disarm him of WMD. That was just one component of the tactical plan for an overall strategic purpose. The strategic purpose of the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan was the encirclement and destabilization of the regime in Iran.
Iran has long been known to be the focus of terrorism in the world. The Bush strategy was to overtake and democratize Iraq and Afghanistan, with the hopes of toppling the regime in Iran, where a more western friendly, less bellicose government would emerge.
The strategy worked, but only after Bush left office. President Obama, completely abandoned the Bush policy. He ignored the uprising in Iran in 2009 and left those people to be slaughtered. He completely withdrew from Iraq, placing them under the hegemonic control of the Iranians. Instead, Obama focused on Afghanistan, which is a backwater nation “with more goats than flush toilets”, as one commentator described.
President Obama was presented with a golden opportunity to completely transform the entire region of the Fertile Crescent, but hubris prevented him from availing himself of the opportunity because it wasn’t HIS vision.
Now, after five years of Obama, we see where his vision of the region is bringing us. Afghanistan is a meat grinder. Iraq is heavily influenced by Iran and growing more unstable by the day. Its proxy, Syria is in a chaotic civil war that threatens to spread across the region. Libya and Egypt are in control of Islamist Supremacists who are blood relatives of Hitler’s Germany.
This is what happens when an untested, unproven, smooth talking, overconfident man assumes the office of the President. There is no doubt whatsoever that had Obama continued the policies of George W Bush, strategically, the US would be in a better position today than it is, in all of these countries. Bush’s strategy was by no means perfect, but it DID work. Obama blew it.
Now, there is a bloodbath and the US has withdrawn from the region with Obama’s “leading from behind” strategy. Of course, this is not a strategy at all. It is at best, “following”. At worst, “retreat.” America is too big, powerful and important to do either. Obama is finally coming to the realization that our adversaries don’t hang on his every word like the NY Times and Chris Matthews.
Remember this: no matter what Obama decides, Iran is watching. Russia sees Obama as weak and pliable. They remember his promise to be “flexible” after the election. When did the Russians ever promise “flexibility”? At every turn, this President has treated the US as the roadblock to progress. And now, reality is about to slap him upside the head.
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