Of course, the White House strategy seems to consist of apologizing to them, and pretending that they aren’t enemies, but just Facebook Friends we haven’t met yet. “Enemy” is a term reserved for American citizens who don’t agree that we should become a bankrupt European social democracy as soon as possible.
[Update a few minutes later]
“Amateur Hour at the State Department.” Thoughts from Claire Berlinski:
I recently interviewed Turkey’s former ambassador to the United States, Faruk Loğoğlu. He is appalled — like many in Turkey — by the soft-headedness of the Obama administration’s diplomacy in this region. He finds Obama’s speeches about his personal warmth toward Islam ludicrous and inappropriate. “Obama can’t play the religious game,” he said. “He should be playing the security game. His policy toward Turkey is a bad imitation of the worst parts of Orientalism.”
It’s not merely the ideological color of the Obama administration’s diplomacy that worries me, but its incompetence. I’ve lately been examining in very close detail the events that led to Turkey’s “No” vote on the Iran sanctions package in the UN. I’ll be writing about this elsewhere, and the details are too complicated to summarize here. But one thing leaps out: our incompetence. How could there have been any ambiguity — and obviously there was — in our communication with Turkey about our negotiating position on the nuclear-fuel-swap deal? How is it possible that Turkey was receiving critically different messages from the White House and the State Department on an issue as significant as the Iranian nuclear program, for God’s sake? It’s inconceivable, but on looking closely at the evidence, it is clear that this is just what happened.
When the State Department spokesman sends a completely inappropriate birthday message to to Ahmadinejad via Twitter, it is, likewise, a symptom of utter amateurism. Apologists for this incident have suggested to me that this wasn’t such a big deal; it was sarcastic, they say, and it wasn’t a diplomatic note or official communiqué. I am guessing that had that Tweet said, “Tomorrow we bomb Iran into rubble,” the same people would have thought it quite a big deal indeed.
Unfortunately, regardless of what happens today, it’s not a problem we can solve for another two years. And it won’t be solved by replacing the president with the current Secretary of State, though that would be a modest improvement.
Having a strategy is racist — but only if we do it. It’s okay for our “frenemies” to have their cute little strategies. I must say I’m starting to sympathize with Ahmadinajad et al. I really don’t know how they put up with our current administration’s representatives without punching at least one of them in the face. (Bet you he has a “miss me yet?” W sticker hidden in his desk drawer.)
Andrea,
Why would the Khomeinists miss Bush? They’ve got Obama right where they want him, and they’re the ones bringing guns to a gun fight. The only way they might miss Bush is if they have a sporting regret for a lack of worthy opponents.
Bush wasn’t bringing guns to the Iran gunfight either. Althought its not quite equal to compare, since he may have decided to do something when American hostages were taken.
But all the Iranian jihadist training, funding, munitions, border incursions into Iraq, etc were happening under his watch as well. And because of Bush’s declinining popularity due to the wars we engaged in under his watch, he made a better punching bag for the Iranian regime, as it made them look tough without really being in danger.
Beating up on Obama is like beating up a mentally handicapped child that just wants to be your friend. While everyone might agree that kid is irritating, its so easy it doesn’t really earn you as many cool points, except with the truly degenerate.
Of course at that stage, it doesn’t really matter anymore, you’ve already won. Iran can do almost anything it wants and Team Obama will keep trying to lick its boots.
Brock: I wasn’t being entirely serious. Still, at least Bush treated the Khomeinists et al like they were serious enemies. Obama and crew give all the indications that they are trying to treat these people, who are deadly serious, with a “oh come on, you’re kidding, right?” flippant manner. This must be infuriating, but not in a good way (i.e., one we can take advantage of). It’s never a good idea to cause your enemies to have contempt for you, and that’s just what it’s obvious the leaders of the Muslim world think of Obama. They don’t respect or fear him — and therefore they don’t respect and fear the US. This is not good.
At least there is stuxnet.
We can’t effectively deal with any foreign enemies (and there are more than we usually count) until we get our domestic house in order. We have a lot of work to do and Obama was right about one thing… it’s not opponents; it’s enemies. People trying to destroy America, even if only through incompetence are the enemies of the American people and we can’t afford to lose this battle of hearts and minds. It is absolutely appalling that we let the idiots continue to think of themselves as the smart ones while trying to eliminate what makes us exceptional at the same time.