Obama Soars, World Roars

Sweetness from "O" at UN as the world burns....

Barack Obama spoke mostly sweetness at the UN yesterday, but in stern moments gave a fairly strong defense of free speech and calling upon people of all faiths to refrain from violent acts when nutcake chatter hits the Internet.  His defense of free speech would have been stronger had he not added that "we understand" why many found the video offensive.

Then came his updated list of foreign policy tropes: he declared the Iraq war over, the Afghan war ending, praised the unfolding democratic wave in the Arab world, called upon Iran to make diplo-nice else "the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," (Iran does not believe him & alas, neither do I), and called upon Arabs & Israelis to come together to make peace.  He reiterated that the peoples of the world share common desires for a better life, and hence, have common interests in a more peaceful, prosperous world.

It was, by Obama's standards, an above-average speech.  But the world is not listening.

1.  The Arab Spring--cold tyranny punctuated by hot flashes of terror & mob violence & mass hatred of the West--has seen political & cultural tornadoes trash the civilizational landscape.

2.  China threatens war with Japan over mini-islands in the western Pacific--and, oh yes, the islets sit atop seas under which are huge oil & gas reserves.

3.  Europe teeters on the economic brink--as Obama seeks to Europeanize the US economy.

4.  Iran marches on towards nuclear weapon status, as Obama raises the ante on ... Israel.

What may come?

Bret Stephens has published a superb article in Commentary.  In "The Coming Global Disorder" he serves up five frightening scenarios: (a) Iran, facing revolution from within & anticipating the regime's fall--considers launching a small cache of nuclear-armed missiles at Israel, in what amounts to a nuclear Gotterdammerung; (b) Europe, sagging under sclerotic economic policies & demographic implosion, sinks beneath the waves; (c) the Arab spring is won by Islamists, for at least a generation; (d) China, taking note of America's shrinking naval power, moves aggressively into the western Pacific to distract its populace from a bursting economic bubble; (e) the US, under a re-elected Obama, stagnates economically & slides toward fiscal oblivion.

To make matters even cheerier, these horribles are hardly mutually exclusive.  All five could happen.

And the (Obama) band played on ... as water rushed into the holds of the (global geopolitical) Titanic.

Bottom Line.  President Obama is not, I think. Roman Emperor Claudius Nero.  Nero knew that Rome was burning.

Letter from the Capitol, LFTC, Foreign Policy, Terrorism, National Security, Conservative Politics