The Mid-East situation and the election

[SnakeTom]

Quite honestly I do not know how the mid east situation plays out or who it favors, but it could decide the election. OB is in a tough spot. Many want instant retribution but what can we do? These are supposedly friendly governments and would it be wise to be drawn into another war ???





Further complicating things is the Israeli government of Netanyahu trying to push OB into an attack on Iran and using our election as leverage. This of course would be a giant blunder and we should not let a foreign government influence our strategic decisions. However not taking a harder line on Iran could cause OB to lose votes from an historically Dem voting bloc.



The election aside the President must do what is in the best interest of the United States regardless of how it impacts on the vote.





Tom K

 

[Section112]

If it favors anyone I think it may favor Obama because it is taking the focus away from the jobs picture.

Regardless its a terrible situation and we simply have to do better in protecting our folks in these unstable countries. What is clear is every time another country becomes unstable, the terrorists move in quickly to capitalize. So if anyone thinks the war on terror is over or has died down, they are sorely mistaken.

What worries me about Netanyahu is that he is getting nervous which could tell you that intelligence sources are telling them that Iran is getting closer to having a nuke. Israel is surrounded and if they get nervous so should we. The Iran problem is a big one and Russia and China will not ever help and will only continue to get in the way.

 

[SPK145]

Originally posted by Section112:

Regardless its a terrible situation and we simply have to do better in protecting our folks in these unstable countries. What is clear is every time another country becomes unstable, the terrorists move in quickly to capitalize. So if anyone thinks the war on terror is over or has died down, they are sorely mistaken.

We are part and parcel to blame for making these countries unstable by our overt and explicit support of known hate America groups like the Muslim Brotherhood to overthrow friendly, or if not friendly, certainly controlled governments.

Originally posted by Section112:

What worries me about Netanyahu is that he is getting nervous which could tell you that intelligence sources are telling them that Iran is getting closer to having a nuke. Israel is surrounded and if they get nervous so should we. The Iran problem is a big one and Russia and China will not ever help and will only continue to get in the way.

We've heard for years and years that Israel was going to attack Iran yet nothing has happened. It's their business. We would probably get sucked in somehow and that is because of past mistakes we've made kissing Israel's ass.

 

[Section112]

No argument - good points Steve. We still have to do better in protecting our folks abroad or just simply get out. As I get older I am becoming more Nationalistic. Not sure if that is right as we are part of a global economy, but its how I feel.

 

[SnakeTom]

I've said this many times when our various administrations or the press starts talking about getting involved to promote democracy whether it was in Iraq, Egypt, Libya or anywhere else. It sounds good but that is not really what we want. What we really want is a friendly government not necessarily a democratic one. Were the revolutions in the mid east good or bad for the US? It's still too early to tell but I'm not all that optimistic that they were.





Tom K

 

[SPK145]

Tom,

Right on the money.

 

[shu09]

I've always said we should be cutting foreign aid and working on our own problems at home. With regards to exporting democracy, who are we to say how the rest of the world should work? What's good for us is not always good for other countries. Let them run their own show and let's mind our own business.

 

[SnakeTom]

Many of these countries have no concept of what democracy is. They are under educated & lived their whole lives under dictatorships which they may see as normal. That is clear from the protestors who think our government has full control over what Americans can say or do. Freedom of speech is not something they readily understand so if that film came from America it must have been endorsed by our government to their way of thinking.


Tom K

 

[cernjSHU]

As so eloquently stated in Charlie Wilson's War, when there is regime change in countries in the Middle East and people say how wonderful it is that democracy is happening in these countries, the Zen Master's response of "We shall see" is always very appropriate.

How great is the Sadam Hussein is dead. "We shall see" Turns out that by taking Sadam out of power, you did Iran a favor. The US did what IRan has been trying to do for decades. Now Iran has established major influence in Iraq and Iraq will end up in the near future with a government that is allied with Iran.

Egypt was a difficult situation. I think everyone knew of the risks of the fundamentalist muslims taking control of the government. The US by backing dictators sets itself up by looking like hypocrites. However, it is often in US interests to support the dictators. Sometimes the enemy you know is better than the enemy you don't know.

 

[SnakeTom]

Originally posted by cernjSHU:
As so eloquently stated in Charlie Wilson's War, when there is regime change in countries in the Middle East and people say how wonderful it is that democracy is happening in these countries, the Zen Master's response of "We shall see" is always very appropriate.

How great is the Sadam Hussein is dead. "We shall see" Turns out that by taking Sadam out of power, you did Iran a favor. The US did what IRan has been trying to do for decades. Now Iran has established major influence in Iraq and Iraq will end up in the near future with a government that is allied with Iran.

Egypt was a difficult situation. I think everyone knew of the risks of the fundamentalist muslims taking control of the government. The US by backing dictators sets itself up by looking like hypocrites. However, it is often in US interests to support the dictators. Sometimes the enemy you know is better than the enemy you don't know.

I agree. getting involved in Iraq was a blunder in so many ways. And remember we supported the Talaban in its war with the Soviet Union. Look where it has us now. There is just no way to tell how these mid east revolutions will turn out for us - good or bad.




Tom K

 

[HALL85]

Originally posted by shu09:

I've always said we should be cutting foreign aid and working on our own problems at home. With regards to exporting democracy, who are we to say how the rest of the world should work? What's good for us is not always good for other countries. Let them run their own show and let's mind our own business.

Agree with you 09. We are not in a position to be the policemen for the world nor forcing other countries to adopt a Democratic society.

 

[cernjSHU]

It's not easy to have a clear cut policy of isolationism or world's police. As a matter of fact, I don't honk we should be either. There are times when the US must get involved in another country. I thin Rwanda, Darfur and Bosnia are examples where genocide is occurring and we as the US must do something. However, who are we to tell a country to democratize. Democracy is a double edge sword. The people you may not want to get into power may win the election.

This is a balancing act. Based on national interest, intelligence and knowledge of the culture and people of a land must be evaluated before decisions are made. These are the toughest decisions to make.