Even t♍hose who worried about how President Obama 💙would handle the Syrian chemical-weapons crisis are shocked at his weird behavior, which puts the world at risk of becoming even more dangerous.
To start with, heꩲ has created confusion regarding the US president’s public statements.
Except for Jimmy Carter, all presidents for the past century have taken care not to commit themselves to any action when they didn’t mean it. In gl🌌obal diplomacy, the phrase “America has spoken” carried special weight. America’s word was America’s bond.
Obama has depleted that capital of trust. A man who loves the sound of his voice has devalued that bond in speeches and TV appearances, setting “red lines” that slowly vanish, shouting “Assad must go” then doing nothing to make that happen and promising to arm Syrian rebels only to have the arms never arrive. And now,⛎ after waxing lyrical about “the conscience of humanity,” he has dropped everything in exchange for a ride on the anfractuous path of Russian diplomacy.
The second danger is the perception thꦉat Russia may have gained a veto on aspects of US foreign policy. In his New York Times op-ed last 💟week, Russia’s Vladimir Putin made it clear his “veto” goes beyond foreign policy to include cultural topics such as the “specialness” of the United States.
Putin claimed equivalence be🦹tween the USSR (“the Evil Empire,” according to Ronald Reagan) and the United States, recalling the time when “we were allies” during World War II. He forgot to mention that the USSR had been allied to Nazi Germany, switching sides only after Hitler invaded.
In the blink of an eye, Obama has shrunk into second fiddle to Putin. Speaking in Geneva on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made a point of showing who was running the show: He said a new round of tal♑ks on Syria would start soon, with Iran and Saudi Arabia invited, to discuss transition plans for Syria.
The deal concocted by Moscow and bought by Obama gives Bashar al-Assad a free hand to kill Syrians as long as he doesn’t use chemical♏ weapons.
Moscow always wanted Assad to remain in power until the end of his presidential term next May. This is precisely what Obama has signed up for, since the deal gives 🐎Syria at least until next June to deliver on Moscow’s promises.
The Damascus-Moscow-Tehran axis hopes to crush the Syrian rebellion within the next six or seven months and theℱn hold fake elections in which Assad is re-elected or has one of his minions elected as president.
In other words, the US has agreed to abandon Obama’s stat⛄ed “Assad must go” policy inꦰ exchange for a Russian-led process. The fact that Assad is a war criminal is brushed under the carpet, a signal to actual or burgeoning war criminals across the globe to operate with impunity.
Whatever happens in Syria, the United States is likely to lose. If Assad’s gang keeps power, they’ll have no reason to abandon their Russian and Irania🐓n protectors. If the rebels win, they’ll have a hard time forgetting Obama’s betrayal.
The perception that America is led by a group of amateurs (some where they are only because they have risen to the level of their i🐼ncompetence) is already encouraging other dangerous trends.
On ෴Friday, a triumphant Putin spoke of a new alliance to “ensure peace and stability” with Russia, China and Iran in leadership positionꦇs. In a summit held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, leaders of the 11 nations that form the so-called Shanghai Group gave Putin a hero’s welcome.
The implicit messa🔥ge was that while Obama has scattered America’s allies and is incapable of even uniting his Democrat Party, the Russian leader is capable of forging an alliance “for peace.”
Russian, Iranian and Chinese media boast that the Shanghai Group is evolvin♋g into a “Euras🐟ian NATO” while US-led NATO is paralyzed by Obama’s tergiversations.
Obama’s Syria fiasco has also encouraged Iran to harden its position on the nuclear𝔉 issue. In his speech at the Bishkek summit, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani tried to link the issue of Syria’s chemical weapons to Israel’s alleged ownership of a nuclear arsenal. He also said that Tehran was ready for talks with the 5+1 Group to secure recognition of “our legitimate 🐭right” to enrich uranium — ignoring five Security Council resolutions that demand an end to enrichment.
And in an interview Thursday, Ali-Akba🌠r Salehi, head of Iran’s Ato♏mic Energy Agency, said, “We do what we want . . . They cannot do anything about it.”
Tehran media report talks with Russia to help Iran build new nuclear power plants. A similar sc✤heme that Iran signed with China 10 years ago could be revived.
The perception that, out of ide𒐪ology or incompetence, Obama is leading the United States iꦐnto strategic retreat has persuaded nations in Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, to review their foreign policies.
Finally, the Syria episode sends another message: While all nations can use force to impose their will (in 2008, Russia invaded Georgia and occupied 25 perc🍬ent of that nation’s territory), only the United States is denied that right even to enforce internati𝓰onal law.
🌌That’s the kind of “American exceptionalism” that Obama has secured.