Lee Smith wrote a curious sort of article that came under
the title: “Reading Obama's mind” and was published on October 9, 2015 in the
Weekly Standard. He is not happy with the Syria policy that the Obama
administration, has adopted, and he has the right to criticize it, of course.
He does that in the first few paragraphs of the article, and
there is plenty in what he says that can be rebuffed. But he goes beyond that
and does the curious thing of saying this: “It's important to understand that
the Iran deal was never
solely about Tehran 's
nuclear program.” He is not here speaking of the Iranians; he is telling what
he believes is motivating the Obama administration.
What is curious in all of this is that Lee Smith puts down a
litany of positions he says were taken by the White House, and a litany of
measures he says were adopted by the Executive ... all of which he regards as
blunders. He does not explain why each position or each measure is a blunder in
its own right – except for rehashing the tired old talking points – but
characterizes them all at the end of the article as being sins because of one
reason and one reason only. And you won't believe what that is.
Look what this man is saying: “The world, as America 's
greatest Cold War poet Wallace Stevens reminds us, is ugly / and the people are
sad.” That's all, my friend. Lee Smith says that a handful of words written by
a poet are the key we must use to understand how and why the Obama
administration is committing all the sins he listed in the article. It is that
the world is ugly – like says the poet – but Obama and his minions fail to see
it that way, says our esteemed essayist.
So then, what's on that list? What follows is what’s on that
list.
Obama wants to end 36 years of hostility with Iran . In doing
so, he hopes to establish a new geopolitical equilibrium that would bring more
stability to a volatile part of the world. What proves he is well meaning and
not biased in favor of the Iranians, is that he told a group of Arab officials
they should learn how to defend and advance their own interests. As if this
were not bad enough, look what else Obama wants to do.
When it comes to Israel , he recognizes that its
unending conflict with the Palestinians fuels anti-American terrorism. Also,
every time that Israel
gets in a shooting war with one of its neighbors, American policymakers get
their hands dirty at the U.N. defending the indefensible. This paints America as being Israel 's accomplice in the war
crimes which are committed with donated American weapons, donated American
funds, and the shower of cheers of encouragement that hit the American media of
all types and all stripes.
The trend is clear as to what Obama wants to accomplish
before leaving office. He wants to bring Iran in from the cold, and rein in
the troublesome characters of the region. This will, at the end of the day,
ensure that there will be neither victor nor vanquished. Things will calm down
considerably and America
can then go home. This is what everyone wanted to see happen all along but no
one did anything about it. Obama then came along, and actually had the big idea
of getting everyone to pitch in. It's like we used to exclaim in the old days:
neat huh!
And that should please the American people who do not like
the prospect of their country getting involved in another war in the Middle East . This is why these people increasingly
approve of the nuclear deal that Obama has forged with Iran .
With Iran
made to play a constructive role, Syria will not have to become a
Cold War chessboard. And with no Cold War or a chessboard, the future will no
longer be about competition between rival powers. Rather, it will be about
cooperation among the powers whose interests will converge in the will to see that
peace and development become the concern of everyone. This way, our broken world
will have been healed; and this is a good thing, not a sin.
Like says Michael Doran, a Hudson Institute scholar: What
Obama envisions is a concert system, where every international actor does its
part.”