What might happen in the 5 weeks 'til Nov. 6?...
This will not, however, change reality in the Mideast, or elsewhere. Iraq is coming undone, due to Obama's yanking troops instead of negotiating a status-of-forces agreement that allowed Iraqis to save face re the issue of US troops' legal immunity. Syria's regime may use chemical weapons against the rebels, as the US stands idly by, with minimal involvement. With SecDef Leon Panetta admitting that the US has lost track of some of Syria's chemical weapons, we see the price of Obama's inaction. The Gray Lady reports that if the Assad regime falls, the Syrian Kurds may try to break away from a successor regime.
The Kurds nourish abiding grievances at being denied a nation after World War I, as the Brits & French consigned them to Arab & Ottoman control. With an historical claim vastly superior to bogus Palestinian claims, the Kurds could try to link up with equally restive Kurdish communities in Turkey, Iraq & Iran. This WaPo map shows Kurdish areas in the 4 countries (plus Armenia), housing a total of 15 - 20 million Kurds; read the accompanying article too.
Soldier & blogger Michael Totten suggests that the US give Egypt's aid to Libya, where pro-US factions are striving to keep control & defeat Islamists. And, incredibly, here is the latest US diplomatic snub directed at our closest Mideast ally: US UN Amb. Susan Rice lunched with SecState Hillary during Israeli PM Netanyahu's vital UN address.
Meanwhile: the Palestinians, an Obama obsession, whose irrelevancy to world affairs was lamented last week by Palestine Authority Pres, Mahmoud Abbas in his UN speech. Aaron David Miller, a longtime promoter of the "peace process" view of the Arab - Israeli conflict, crisply explains why contrary to Team Obama's view, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is not the prime obstacle to a settlement with the Palestinians. Put simply, it is the Arabs--Palestinian disunity & intransigence, the unlovely Arab Spring--plus the looming threat of (non-Arab but Muslim) Iran, who are driving events in the Mideast. (Yet as Jonathan Tobin suggests in Commentary Blog, Abbas is a "necessary enemy"--he won't make peace, but will keep the lid on terror, which Hamas, should it rule the West Bank, would unleash.)
Bret Stephens captures Obama's failings re Benghazi as due not to mere incompetence alone, but far more due to policy & a flawed worldview. Benghazi was, BS writes, Obama's 3 AM phone call. And Eli Lake's brilliant Daily Beast reporting uncovers another bombshell: The US consulate in Benghazi had been bombed twice--before the ambush that killed for US diplomats.
Bottom Line. Tectonic forces were unleashed by the Arab Spring. These developments are largely obscure to a blinkered administration futilely negotiating with Iran over nukes; propitiating an Islamist Egypt despite deeply anti-US rumblings; standing largely on the sidelines in Syria; oblivious to clear & present grave dangers in Libya; shoving Israel whenever possible; and of all things, continuing to obsess over the utterly marginal Palestinian issue.Letter from the Capitol, LFTC, Foreign Policy, Terrorism, National Security, WMD, Nuclear Proliferation, Conservative Politics
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