Humpty in Toytown and the Arab Boomerang

Brian Moshe

Having just read with disbelief the latest 'insights' on Libya and the Middle East by Max Hastings in the Daily Mail, I have to say, Melanie, it's such a shame you don't seem to write on the Middle East in the Mail.

Pamela Monks

Spot on as usual, Melanie. The naivety of Western leaders over the Arab uprisings is almost unbelievable. It seems a reasonable assumption that any rebel groups in these countries will contain hardline jihadist elements and that they will be well positioned to seize power in the event of the collapse of the incumbent regime. To actually support such a group with military force seems the height of insanity. If Gaddafy falls I would be very surprised if the Muslim Brotherhood did not take power in Libya, as well as in Egypt.

That would leave the Brotherhood controlling North Africa, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and Ahmadinejad in Iran. How could even the most stupid Western politician consider that with equanimity? These regimes would all be pledged to the destruction not just of Israel, which has 200 nuclear warheads and the will to use them, but of Western civilisation in general.

Veracity

Where are you Guy Fawkes when we need you? Lemmings hurtling over the cliff and dragging us with them.

An American

Obama waited as long as possible before speaking to the American public about his non-war (not approved by Congress) because he wanted to see if the Libyan rebels had a chance of winning first. You have to understand that from Obama's perspective, this is not about anything but Obama being elected in 2012. He couldn't let Sarkozy and other Europeans take the credit for eliminating Gaddafy, should that happen.

Every other word in his speech last night was 'I'. To Obama, everything in the world is about Obama. His leftist cronies are now saying the Libyans, Egyptians, Yemenis, etc. are all rioting because of Obama's speech in Cairo last year...they were so besotted by his brilliant godlike presence...that's why the Middle East is changing.

In reality, Melanie is correct, every thing that Obama/Hillary (let's not let her off the hook) and their Western Allies have done in the Middle East has weakened the US and the West. But worse, it could destroy Israel. Hillary even went as far as to say that Syria's Assad was a 'Reformer' while Obama and Hillary stand aside and let Iran finish building their nukes.

Does anyone see a pattern here? Obama's administration treats Israel like a pariah while silently encouraging its closest enemies, Iran and Syria, while attacking Libya and continuing the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

Obama's administration has always been on the the side of evil time after time, country after country, worldwide.

We should be very afraid...if Americans can't vote this dangerous mistake out soon, there will be nothing to save for any of us.

r camillo

The west is in the grip of a cabal of prancing buffoons. I can only see a huge disaster in the middle and near East, fuelled by atomic weapons that will make Japans nuclear problems look miniscule.

CD

Thanks for the analysis, Melanie.

Seems to me that Western leaders have always operated under a conflict, and under current circumstances this is being played out in the comical way you have described.

Two phrases from your comments bring out this conflict in stark contrast:

1) "Western interests"

2) "Moral courage"

The trick up to now has always been to pursue Western interests packaged with morality. Now that is coming apart and all can see it.

RoMo

In a nutshell. You have it. What hope for humanity now?

David D

I wish I knew who we are supporting in Libya. I wish there was some indication that Cameron, Sarkozy, Obama etc knew who we are supporting in Libya. It seems that politicians have a need to "do something" from time to time and could not resist the urge to "do something" against Gaddafi, perhaps because he has been a bogey man to the West for so long. I struggle to understand what is so special about "the rebels" in Libya that we have to help them but not their counterparts in Iran and Syria. I fear that our politicians want to see tha back of Gadaffi and his ilk - including Assad & Ahmadinejad - but cannot bring themselves to tell the voters that whoever takes their place may be a lot worse. I fear that we are sleepwalking into an open clash of civilisations - or rather a clash between civilisation and anti-civilisation - without the intellectual ability to defend ourselves.

Arius

The strategic cognitive dissonance of the West is obvious to anyone with their eyes open.

Hatoul

it is a wonder the PCC hasn't come out and told off the govts for harassing, and victimizing Gaddafi.
rebels win; all change in Syria... here comes the rise of a Muslim super power...
think I'll move to Israel!

Maddy1

In once sense this is perhaps the new policy and at least we will know if it is fish or fowl or even Islamic Duck-billed Platypus! Once we know what the true nature is then perhaps we can at last join up to and acknowledge the Israeli struggle!

Maddy1

In once sense this is perhaps the new policy and at least we will know if it is fish or fowl or even Islamic Duck-billed Platypus! Once we know what the true nature is then perhaps we can at last join up to and acknowledge the Israeli struggle!

Grumpy true Zionist

what these three prancing show ponies (cameroon/little napoleon/oblatha), fail to grasp is that these 'arab springs' in the maghreb (and now spreading through arabia and the levant), are based largely on tribal and religious differences ie shiite/sunni, as well as the use of proxy terror groups, all thrown into the mix

chances of so called 'reformists' twittering and facebooking, themselves into a new democratic tunisia/egypt/libya/syria et al, are as likely, in this neighbourhood, as say islam actually becoming a 'religion of peace'

what has always occurred here, is that one strongman (tribal chief) deposes/kills the incumbent, or one military junta is ousted by junior officers or one self appointed royal house.......you get the message

nowhere is there the slightest intention to bring 'democracy' to what they, the leaders understand as their own mad ranting arab street

democracy as a concept, is way beyond the horizon, for these tribal desert dwellers, and it will be many many years, before evolution eventually takes hold of the arab/muslim mind and moves it slowly from the eigth century to the current one

none of us currently residing on the planet, including the 'prancing ponies' will be around to witness this real 'arab/muslim spring'

Anna

About Bahrain - Melanie, Tariq Alhomayed has a huge point here.
I've stumbled upon the LJ of one Russian expate living there.
The descriptions of what happens there (and she's not Muslim, she's just working there) are, simply put, pretty shocking. I mean in light of what the world media was telling us happens there.

I was stunned to discover about atrocities and public disruptions those "revolutionaries" are causing. About Iranian leaders portraits hanging about every Shiite village. About little children and youth being cynically used as a "front force" in those demostrations and their brain washing. About teachers giving instructions to their pupils to participate in the riots and bullying the scared parents who don't want to co-operate. Yet they don't forget before heading to the riots to check in their work card to get the sallary in time.
About the medical "shiite" staff who refuses to provide medical services to sunnis and as a result a few people has already died.
About poor suffering "shiites" who attack and murder some expats from India,Philippines, Pakistan etc' claiming those has stole their job.
About the many attempts of the king to reconcile, to negotiate, to propose reforms and financial compensation which were flatly rejected by the "democratic forces" (except for money).
Not to mention their continuing sabotage of trafic barricading the central business center of Bahrain on which depends the country's economy (there's practically no oil left there, so they have switched to the banking and business development)
And many-many more...
So ultimately, after those bullies started invading central hospitals, the governmnet decided enough is enough and turned for help to the neighbors (in accordance to their Gulf Treaty).

And what exactly the world media has reported to all the people around the globe, who have no idea what happens there, and rely on them to get the honest and objective information? At best a one sided record, at worst - a bunch of lies.
At one point those "revolutionaries" openly threatened the king they'll go to the media with the report of murdered innocents if he tries to stand to them.

This is not about Bahrain. This not about Israel. This is not about UK, USA, Russia or whatever.
This is about a new "Monopole" world game in which the fate of any state is on the plate and the media serves merely as a "joker" - while all the strings are in the hands of a few.

It doesn't matter if those pulling the strings are good guys or bad guys in my or your opinion. Somewhere, sometime in the global well-intending proccess the sacred rubicon was breached. The good intentions that paved a great way to world hell.
This is a madness that should be stopped as soon as possible.

Liberal Conservative

The reason we are supporting the rebels in Libya but not the protests in Syria and Iran is simply that the protests in the latter two countries remain just that - protests. It is plainly absurd to talk about giving military support to people desiring change in Syria and Iran when there is no armed insurgency to support. If the unrest in Syria and Iran had followed the same pattern as in Libya - and perhaps public discontent may one day reach the critical mass where that can happen - then America and Europe would be launching air strikes to help the rebels. It is not an anti-Western conspiracy.

Andre

I can see the outcome: A chain of fundamentalist states stretching from Pakistan and Afghanistan through Iran, the Gulf, Egypt and Libya to the Atlantic coast. A cohesive jihads-supporting nuclear armed caliphate such as no sultan ever envisaged. This may happen sooner and quicker than we think It will spell the end of the west, the free world, as we know it. Our leaders, as MP suggests, do not know what we stand for or what we should do.

D. Singh

Sir

There is no national interest at stake: on both sides of the Atlantic. The concept of national interest has been replaced by a new doctrine in foreign policy circles: Responsibility to Protect (‘R2P’): hence the action has attributed to it a cloak of morality.

R2P is an inherently unstable doctrine: it could be used against the only democracy in the region and used frequently with unintended consequences.

R2P can easily slide into R2P Mark 2: Right to Protect.

This doctrine R2P is being pushed by Samantha Power inor Obama's world-view.

Andy Gill

It's not an Arab Spring, it's a false dawn.

Iran is the example; a revolution hijacked by fundamentalist Islamists, and a new regime more repressive, belligernet and hostile to the west than the one it replaced.

Paul

Its amazing how frightened of democracy spreading you really are. If the Muslim Brotherhood win a democractic election then they won the election and deserve to be the Government

michael

OPEC turns Jihadi ... inevitable mayhem.

OPEC have already got direct control of all our purse strings via forecourts and energy suppliers.

Roll on hydrogen.

raymond

One thing we should be doing , is supporting the one, decent , democracy in the region i.e. Israel ! Because, for all that its detractors say, it is the one place we would recognise as similar to us. Civil rights, rule of law,decent education,hospitals etc etc !Would that the Arab Muslim world would stop seeking to destroy Israel and seek to learn from her instead !

Miranda Rose Smith

Dear Ms. Phillips: Who do Vague and Obama and Sarkozy think they're kidding? The air strikes in Libya are aimed at keeping the oil faucet open. They can't say so, hence the muddled, contradictory statements they keep coming out with. Only problem is, Gaddafi is certainly mad (in both senses of the word) enough to turn off the oil faucet, and if the rebels win, they will close it off tighter than Tilly. NATO should just have stayed OUT of the fight between a fanatic Moslem dictator and even more fanatic Moslem rebels.

john

Marine Le Pen may be the next President of France. What will the EU do? Boycott France, send her to Coventry? Grave economic fallout, should it do so. When she starts repatriating illegal immigrants to Tunisia and Libya, will it be an arrest warrant for a legally elected leader of a democracy? Are we further down the road to a French/European civil war. There will be a clear choice between Western democracy and a totalitarian EU, allied to an uncontrollable Muslim world which shares none of our values.

Derek Pasquill

The Arab bouleversement.

Perhaps it is easy to understand why Western leaders remain clueless in the Middle East as they have similarly failed to understand why the interests of some (the emphasis is on some, not all) Muslims residing in USA, Britain, France do not coincide with secular liberal democracy.

Vive la bouleversemente!

Santorum

I suggest you (re?) read Sharansky Melanie. Have faith in democracy and the the establishment of liberal institutions. That's what western policy should and is aspiring to be

Adam B.

Liberal Conservative

We are supporting a group including Islamists in Libya, who hate us, whilst the Libyan regime poses no threat to us. Menawhile, the two countries whose regimes do pose a threat, Iran and Syria, are free to crush their protest movements with hardly a peep from the West. (The media is completely disinterested). Syria currently has 4 new nuclear sites under construction, with North Korean and Iranian assistance. Simultaneously, Assad has built up one of the world's biggest arsenals of chemical weapons. He has forcibly expelled 300,000 Kurds from their homes in the north and thrown them into refugee camps in the south, with mass arrests and executions the norm. We are doing nothing about it.

It makes no sense to intervene against a dictator on the grounds that he is not acting in a humanitarian way (whilst posing no threat to us), when there is another even worse humanitarian case, which indeed does pose a threat to us, and we do nothing. Where is the logic in that?

Neil Turner

Caroline Glick sees the events in Syria as a possible opportunity for Israel

http://www.carolineglick.com/e/2011/03/the-syrian-spring.php

TomTom

You seem to forget Melanie how France stoked the upsurge in Islamism by seeking to install Khomeini in Iran to supplant the "Anglo-American" Shah and gain oil contracts from BP and Exxon.

The deliberate policy of using Saudi money and Wahhabism in Afghanistan to obstruct the Russians and spending $600 million on arming and infusing the Pakistan agents masquerading as Taliban.

Or the Little Mosque in Munich set up with CIA connivance in the 1950s for the Muslim Brotherhood.

We have very stupid politicians who create the problems but never solve them. We may be entering another 30 Years War

Arthur Lincoln

Before the second world war an American Senator implored the US government to stop the export of scrap metal to Japan. He stated that if the export doesn't stop the Japanese will be "bombing us with used Buicks."
I understand that Mr Obama is considering arming the rebels?
Those that don't take heed of history are bound to make the same mistakes!

Tommy

Iran Leaders: The Coming is Upon Us – Israel Shall be Destroyed!
an article by Reza Kahlili
http://goo.gl/rjRBo

As to Libya - Let the islamists destroy themselves--- we should not be involved,the last thing the UK needs is to weaken its armed forces even more. Enough is enough

Jack R

On complementary lines of political analysis:

Glenn Beck:

"I stand tonight with Israel"

(video, 29 March))

go to:

'watch glenn beck'.

Okey

Could it be that Libya has become fair game, while Iran and Syria are immune, because the latter two are far stronger regimes than Libya, so "the West" can demonstrate its "humanitarian concern" at relatively little cost?
Eventually, however, reality will catch up with "the West", and it will be faced with its moment of truth.
As things stand now, it has only an even chance of overcoming the jihadist tsunami.

Babu G. Ranganathan

Who is President Obama kidding? Contrary to the President’s statements, Col. Gadhafi is not purposely killing civilians, but he is intentionally killing armed rebels who wish to secede from Libya, many of whom are sympathetic to militant Islam and support Al Qaeda. Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that any killing of civilians was circumstantial (i.e. unintended).
Obama and his fellow Allied European terrorists have misquoted Gadhafi. Gadhafi did not threaten to slaughter civilians. Gadhafi gave the armed rebels a warning to lay down their arms or risk slaughter from him.
Obama and Clinton are making a mockery of the U.S. The United States has no business in Libya just as it had no business in occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. Gadhafi has every right to thwart a civil war in his nation and to use his armed forces against armed rebels.
Perhaps, President Obama wants to become a war hero president. After all, those are the presidents that most likely get elected, and re-election time is coming around the corner. The real criminals here that should tried by the world court are U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and their European terrorist allies Sarkozy and Cameron.
The last truly great U.S. president of great political honesty, integrity, and high intellectual acumen was John (Jack) F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama has shown that he certainly is no Jack Kennedy, not anywhere close.

nombab

Am I reading this article and the responses correctly? We should ignore a certain massacre/genocide because it suits our interests?

The last few weeks you have been rightly highlighting the digusting massacre in Israel but want to turn a blind eye to this one that would be happening right now without this intervention.

Not only is that morally wrong but its also a mistake. The news coverage would have ensured we were drawn in anyway like it did in Bosnia and Iraq. As before it would simply be to late. Tens of thousands dead, tens of thousands fleeing to Europe as refugees.

Sorry, events Im sure will end messily and badly with or without intervention. There is no good end game here. But for this blog to propose allowing a dictator to slaughter unopposed?.....and you talk about other peoples contradictions.

By the way in the interests of fairness do you not think you should say the paper you quote at length is owned by the Saudi Royal family and that there have been serious question marks over the behaviour of its editor who wrote the articles in question?dly a disinterested observer of events in Bahrain.

Grumpy true Zionist

another interesting take on the west's cozying-up to whoever in the middle east:

Daniel Greenfield on The Sultan Knish weblog

An American

Michael has it in a nutshell.

This is all about oil. Italy gets 70% of its oil from Libya and France a good portion. The US gets most of its oil from Saudi Arabia. This should not be a US war, but we seem to be footing most of bills anyway.

OPEC has the west in a vise and when all of these countries are forced into Islamic theocracies with the help of our idiot leaders, we will be in deep trouble.

How will we protect ourselves from the intended Islamic onslaught if we have no oil?

Right now, 2/3 of our US functioning oil rigs in our Gulf are quiet on the order of Obama. We aren't allowed to drill in Anwar. All the known rich US oil fields are closed to drilling. Obama is trying to shut down our coal production (one of the richest in the world) and hasn't signed on to build a single nuclear plant...two are in the works from the Bush era but are yet to be started. Instead Obama is giving GE and a few other cronie industries hundreds of billions of tax free money to build windmills and solar panels.

The US has large oil deposits to support itself but is being denied the opportunity to protect and defend itself by the Obama administration.

Its time for Americans to wake up to fight the real enemy that is within

widford1der

"This is a perplexing matter indeed, but it clearly tells us something – that is, that Washington does not have a clear picture of what is going on in the region, and that even if it does, it is too weak to act."

Maybe? Alternatively, unrest brings about enough chaos that change is no only inevitable in the Middle East but also in Europe as well. Fear is a huge factor here, and with all of the other world events taking place, sitting back and watching the show (Obama) could result in a master stroke that no expects. If it is true, which i suspect it is, that his advisers like Samantha Power and Brezinski et al are working feverishly in the background. Anybody heard anything about General Petraeus recently?
At the beginning Gaddafy stated that al Quaeda were involved with the unrest in Libya, but no one believed him because after all he is a "mad dog". But lo and behold, independent observers now state that there is a strong possibility that al Quaeda could be involved.

If Obama has got his eye on the 2012 election, then he will be treading carefully with the deployment of troops in Libya, but as you have stated so clearly Melanie, the "combined forces of good", cameron, sarkozy, clinton, obama do not seem to know what is good at the moment; only what is expedient. Anyone seen Tony Blair recently??

Citizen1138

It would be a rather damning article, if we weren't already damned. The idiocy and absurdity is so overpowering at this point that all we can hope to do is ignore it until we actually can effect a regime change.... here in America.

An American

Paul,
Do you mean for instance...Iran? They have democratic elections...would you want to live there? Most sane Iranians don't want to. It seems you are completely unclear on the concept of what a real democracy is all about.

JOHN ROOSEVELT

Grumpy True Zionist: perfect said...every time.

hmrhonda

This article describes how scary the present people leading the west really are. Very scary. Our young adult children are depressed when listening to the news and watching their future and our world go to hell in a handbasket because of these idiots masquerading as "leaders of the free world". Good thing Hillary isn't President nor running again--one mistake is enough. We need regime change in the US in 2012.
"An American" writing below, is exactly right. Obama didn't want to speak until he saw which way things were going. He reacts but doesn't lead. As Mayor Guliani said the other day, "Obama is a follower." He followed his thug handlers all the way to the White House.

Quiet American

"But at this crucial juncture in history, a time of unparalleled danger not just for individual countries but for western civilisation, the west has not produced one single leader who possesses the insight, statesmanship and moral courage to deal with it."

It is excruciating. We westerners need to pay attention and get serious-like-a-heart-attack. We cannot afford leadership as unserious, as foolish as this. We cannot serve ourselves and all we hold dear as the sacrifices to their learning experiences.

Dracovert

The situation you describe is becoming less coherent and more deadly. The majority of Islamists' victims are by far other Muslims, whose voice is largely muted by Islamist terror. The situation is quite similar to the 1930s, when the democracies practiced voluntary blindness and deliberate ignorance of manifest threats. When the democracies finally recognized the threat (Churchill excepted), it was Pearl Harbor time, and extreme measures were required at extreme cost to recreate a stable world.
To minimize the ultimate cost to Muslims and to democracies alike, and to minimize death and destruction, I advocate the Dresden solution. Dresden was carpet bombed to eliminate important war-making potential, with considerable civilian damage. But it worked, reducing Hitler's ability to prolong the war. It is a simple matter of priorities. Do you want to pursue some romantic idea of minimizing civilian casualties and allowing the terror to go on indefinitely, or do you want to end civilian casualties in the shortest possible time?
All Jihadists should be immediately exterminated at whatever cost, and the nonsense would stop. It worked in Germany, it worked in Japan, and it is the only way to solve the current problem.

Joseph

Thank God (in spite of this not being politically correct) that someone has written a succinct article of this travesty.
If you play this out it is much worst than we recognize.
As Melanie Phillips says: "But at this crucial juncture in history, a time of unparalleled danger not just for individual countries but for western civilisation".

While Islamic states are clensing their territories of Christians the west is assisting Islamic fundamentalists to get into power in the Middle East and in the West we are playing at semantics and politically correct suicide with Islamic threats.
Impeachable characters like Obama and Eric Holder are busily with their minions setting up islamic support throughout the American justice system even as the American great unwashed spend their time watching Glee and the Kardashians.

Grumpy true Zionist

JOHN ROOSEVELT-a little glass of Sabra wine or a Kentucky bourbon and 'branch' with you, my man

le'chaim

Humphster

For me being a nice guy is not a rational reason for bombing another country who in no material way threatens us. The only thing that makes sense to me is that Obama is trying to distract us from a feeble economy, sky high unemployment, and deficit in the stratosphere -- all items that negatively affect his poll numbers. Obama is a menace.

John Savage

To “An American” - March 30th, 2011 3:05pm

You might be interested to learn that according to the US Energy Information Administration the top three countries supplying the US with petroleum (both crude and refined) in terms of thousand barrels per day for 2010 were:

CANADA (2,532)
MEXICO (1,280)
SAUDI ARABIA (1,094)

You can see that Saudi Arabia supplies less than Mexico and only 40% of the amount that Canada does. If you remove refined, then Canada still supplies twice as much as Saudi Arabia - 1,972 v 1,082 thousand barrels per day.

alex

What so many in power do not realize is that when Islamists are fighting Islamists...that is a good thing. By removing S. Hussein, we removed the biggest obstacle to Iran. Just leave them alone and let them wipe each other out.

Another American

I wish more journalists in America saw this as clearly. Sadly, our Obama cheerleading press is determined to paint this as another victory on the road to re-election. As for the President himself -- what can you say about someone whose most passionate response to date is that he will not return his Nobel Peace Prize?

charles soper

No, Melanie, saving Benghazi from becoming a million strong bloodbath was a mitzvah. For that Sarko, Cameron, and the belated BHO, who has acted like a muscleman prodded by the bidding of vociferous mates, deserve more credit than you give them. If the same happens in Deraa, Sanaa or Manama, we should also act, irrespective of whether it's in our long term interest.

As to diving into a Libyan civil war with doublespeak as cover, with Al-Awlaki cheering us on from the sidelines - I agree that's plain idiocy.

For once, we now should listen to the Arab League, sit back, impose a no fly zone and allow the Libyan stalemate to unfold politically. It may not help BP's shares, but it will lead to less loss of life, and it may just help Libya grow up, which in the long run would benefit everyone.

Emet

The chickens are coming home to roost but there is no need to panic. The management of all this by the West is inconsistent, dishonest and a bit chaotic. But we are a long way from needing to worry. Apparently, the Israeli's are still building settlements. The future must be bright.

The Globalizer

I'll just say this -- if it is somehow the West's goal to eliminate anti-Western and Islamist influences from the Middle East, it will be a very, very lonely place when we're done.

Better that we should work with them and try to soften the "interests inimical to the west" than to simply kill everyone we feel threatened by, to whatever degree.

Vicki

My great-grandfather used to say that if you educate a fool, what you've got is an educated fool (and apparently we have a lot of them in charge these days). Thank you for being right and for putting it in print :-)

Rick Libertarianski

Just another example how all these Oxford, Yale, Harvard, and such MBA's who've never held a REAL job in the REAL world are leading us down the road to KaKa-land!

Baron

Melanie, what one's hard put to figure reading your lambasting the West’s involvement in the lands of the Arabs is this. When the uprisings began should the West have backed the tyrants or what? Sooner or later the Mubaraks, their descendents had to go, the longer the tyrannies were to last, the grater the bloodletting would have been when they imploded, cracked up, also the greater the number of immigrants would have arrived here, angry with us, shouting, plotting to do us harm.

For the West it was a no brainer, we had to act backing those of whatever colour who stood up against the oppressors purely on the grounds that oppressing people is bad even if those doing it were doing it here and there on our behalf what with renditions and stuff. One can be critical of the way we are engaged, not that we are engaged.

Someone somewhere ought to figure now how to ensure that the basic principles of democracy are observed when the new regimes are set up by the locals, you know, regular elections, free press, right of free association and stuff.

An American

John Savage,
Thanks for the info., it was an eye-opener.

I'm happy to see that Canada is profiting from their oil. On another front, they are fortunate to have us as neighbors whose military protects them.

Mexico is another story with the drug wars destroying their government/country. I believe the next election will put the Communists in power (they almost won the last time). Then we will have another US hating Hugo Chavez right on our southern border.

Obama gave 2 billions dollars of US taxpayer's monies to Brazil to drill for oil along their coastline. They have already signed an agreement to sell this oil to China.

Is Obama real that much of a fool. I think not, he has other plans for the US.

My previous comment to you disappeared, let's hope this isn't a repeat.

Augustus

Arab states possess enough military resources that they could have deployed as a League operation and, in keeping with the UN principle of 'responsibility to protect',
placed a no-fly zone themselves
over Libyan air space to protect
civilians and punish Gaddafi. But the unwillingness of the League to intervene in Libya, or anywhere else in the Arab world, save for its unrelenting hostility towards Israel, is because of a fear to establish a precedent among its members that nobody wants. However, a precedent of sorts with unsavoury consequences for the future has now indeed been established. The Arab League has talked the UN and Western powers into doing its bidding without assuming any responsibility for consequences
it finds distasteful to itself
or unpopular. In ME culture, bargains made in bazaars often happily find deluded suckers. The League made a winning bargain over Libya and suckers
Obama, Cameron and Hague have been left to pick up the bill
and take the blame.

Carl LaFong

Hillary - in trying to walk back her comment that Syria's Assad is "a reformer" - said she spoke "NEITHER FOR MYSELF (emphasis added) nor the administration."

Wuzn't Sarah Palin suppozed to be the STOOPID ONE?

Anth

I applaud Sarkozy for his courage and foresight in recognizing the Provisional Democratic Government of Libya as the legitimate representative of - at least Eastern - Libya. Other countries must move urgently to do the same, with a modicum of due diligence.Western Libya will doubtless become the Mediterranean version of North Korea, but at least democracy will take root in Benghazi. When it becomes a sovereign state, we will then be able to trade with them and support them. Hopefully, over time their example will inspire the rest of the Libyans to emulate their struggle to overthrow despotism.

An American

Hillary's back-pedalling on calling Assad a 'reformer' was fun to watch...she attributed it to Congressmen who had recently visited with Assad. Obama and Hillary are the very best at blaming everyone for their statements and deeds.

And her boss, Obama was busy calling his non-war in Libya a 'turd sandwich' to an NBC anchor while saying "I do a lot of praying" on ABC...hmmm, a scene comes to mind with Obama on his knees on his prayer blanket,head down, butt in air, praying to a turd sandwich.

harriotek

Why did we invade Iraq again? If Bin Laden was the one responsible for 9/11, how did America end up in Iraq instead of Afghanistan?

harriotek

Why does Iran hate America so much? Could it be because of what America and Britain did in 1953? Has anything gotten better in Iraq or worse since the fall of Saddam? If the same thing happens in Libya who will the next despot be? Remember these are tribal people. Who are we to force our way of living on someone else? If these people want change then it has to come from within.

An American

But seriously, the Congressional Search Service says that US energy resources eclipse the Saudis, China and Canada combined...and that's without including shale oil deposits.

Yet the Obama administration continues to block serious oil exploration by not giving permits. Many oil companies have spent years waiting to get a permit to start drilling while those with permits have been given a seven year delay under the Obama administration. Yet, Obama just today had the nerve to blame the oil industry for not doing more drilling in 'questionable' areas, perhaps hoping that all those dry wells will break them.

Windmills just won't do it...they would have to cover the entire state of New York to supply not quite enough electricity for New York City.

Obama can thumb his nose at Palin's 'Drill baby drill'...but it will happen when he is defeated in 2012 after Americans get tired of paying $70.00 and more to fill up their cars. America is a big, mostly rural country and we use highways, not trains for 99% of our transportation needs. Plus our electric and heating bills will soar.

When Obama starts hurting Americans pocketbooks to the tune of many hundreds a month, they will think twice about voting for him.

Ian Hills

The Libyan War will no doubt still be raging in 2012, the year of the mid-term elections and the London Olympics. Let's hope these two events don't go off with a bang.

David Gress

Utterly true. Except that Lockerbie wasn't Gaddafy's hit, but Syria's. Or so I'm told.

Ron Mulvaney

It's unrealistic to expect the U.S. to act unilaterally as it did in Iraq (if it hadn't been for our "proof" before the world of "weapons of mass destruction" what support would we ever have had?) Now, at least, we have almost 100% international support.

Bazza McKenzie

Those who insist Western countries (but not Germany, Russia or China) had to "do something" about protests in Egypt, Libya, etc, might want to tell us how the UK and US should choose sides next time there is conflict in France, and just how it should intervene in support of its chosen side. Will selective bombings be OK?

And if there is serious unrest in the UK, does France have a moral obligation to support the protestors? Does several hundred thousand protesting in London, with a police crackdown, get into the ballpark?

An American

Ron,
You call 16 countries '100% international support'...get real.

wyn

"...or, should he fall, there seems to be a more than sporting chance that the Islamists he has until now fought off will eventually come out on top."
And should the dictator fall, and the Islamists take over, does anyone believe those Islamists will actually follow commercial practice and sell their oil according to contract prices? Or deliver that oil on time? Have the leaders who instigated this farce, thought through what a Jihadist led nation armed and rich could do to Europe?
Better start looking for a new acronym to replace NATO. Something like NITO as in 'neato'(the North Islamist Treaty Organisation). As long as we're into farces, how about a day in the not too distant future when this NITO comes to the 'rescue' of a supposed recalcitrant population in, let's say, America?
Don't think it's possible? I didn't think this Libya fiasco possible. So don't dismiss it. Anything is possible.

Joseph F. McNulty

It is worse that you think. The Libyan war makes no sense (although we have a history with Gaddafi who richly deserves ending up hanging by his heels like Mussolini). But that is not the point. Why would we empower Al-Queda fighters who go into battle shouting "Allahu Ackbar!")? The head of the provisional authority has admitted that the local Al-Queda affiliate is a significant element in the coalition. Gaddifi say the "rebels" are Al-Queda. Are we to believe that he is entirely delusional when the coalition admits Al-Queda involvement? We are told that this is all being done purely to prevent a "humanitarian" disaster. But we have taken no action elsewhere similar circumstances (in Yemen and Syria, where people are being shot down in the street). Let's not even mention Iran, where Obama went weeks without even commenting on Basjid militia killing peaceful protesters. No, a bigger game is afoot. The war with Libya is mainly meant to set the predicte for the imposition of a "no-fly zone" on Israel when the PLO declares unilaterally its "Palestinian state" with UN blessing next fall. Consider the facts: Samatha Power, a prominent, but hidden, member of Obama's National Security Council, has long blamed Israel for the lack of Middle Eastern peace. She recentlly said that the United States, to achieve a Palestinian State, has to be prepared to take bold and dramatic action on the ground. It also has to be prepared to alienate a "powerful and rich constituency" in United States politics. I wonder who she had in mind. Obama has now created the precedent of not going to Congress for authorization before taking military action. Hillary let the cat out of the bag the other day when she said that (1) if there is a "humanitarian" crisis, (2) the United States is the only power equipped to do the necessary military action, (3) and the mission has been blesses by international organizations like the UN or the Arab League, then you don't have to go to Congress for authorization. Consider the implications of that for a moment. Since Congress is a friend of Israel, by-passing Congress is a necessary element of any such plan. The PLO will declare unilaterally a state after a UN vote. Abbas has already said that when this happens, all Israeli "settlers" in the West Bank will be expelled. If Israel reject the declaration of a Palestinian state on a unilateral basis (which will be at war with Israel), Palestinian gangs, with the blessing of the UN and aflame with nationalism, will attack the "settlements." If Israel tries to take any action to protect Israelis in the West Bank from getting Fogle-family treatment, the United States, because of an Israeli blockade and the resulting "humanitatian crisis" among the Palelstinians, will declare a "no-fly zone." If the Israelis respond with ground action, it will be expanded to a "no-drive zone." Ultimately, in the name of "preserving peace," it may be expaneded to include Israeli airspace. This will all be presented by Obama as an "unpleasant necessity" to solve the Middle Eastern peace problem and "save Israel from itself" -- the regretable action of a friend. And remember, it was all set up by the Libyan war, because Gaddifi is such an easy target, an aging dictator who can be dismissed as "mentally unbalanced." Obama and Hillary, both Soros creatures, have created this scene with the "Responsibility to Protect" doctrine, which justifies such "humanitarian" interventions.

I assume Obama will not provoke this crisis until after the election, so he can continue to pose as a "Friend of Israel" and gather thousands of votes of feckless liberal Jews. Will they be fooled again, or it their Judaism less important than their leftism?

Augustus

Talking about semantics and the meaning of utterances etc., in 2002 Barack Obama said: "I don't oppose all wars...what I am opposed to is a dumb war, what I am opposed to is a rash war...a war based not on reason
but on passion, not on principles but on politics."

Well, the Libyan war must be one of the dumbest wars the western nations have ever stumbled into. A war at the behest of a motley collection of Libyan rebels ranging from
ex-regime thugs to al-Qaeda.
There must be at least 20 other situations where this sort of action would be far more justified and purposeful than in Libya. But Gaddafi's a terrorist! At least, now he is.
But haven't we known that for over 40 years? why never to have
acted before? Ah! Now the excuse
is to help along the democratic
process. But what about the opposition in Iran that's been so bloodily put down by the mullahs? Not a lot of support there! Bizarre to say the least.
And as for hypocritical politicians, when they had the chance, when did they ever make clear to Gadaffi that he back off on the despotism? Never!
More concerned with oil interests, and rolling out the red carpet and shaking his hand.
For decades Gaddafi has been allowed his terror tactics, yet
when Israel decides to exercise her right and duty to protect her citizens and fight a defensive war against the Hamas terror organization she's accused of being disproportionate. Well, what's happening now in Libya is at the very least disproportionate.

Charlieray15

Another useful example to draw on is Algeria. When they had elections the goat botherers won, so the army had to step in. The goat botherers will also be the beneficiaries of the "Arab Spring".
Viewed dispassionately, I don't think Israel can survive long term, the way things are going. I don't want this, it's just the way it looks. I don't want Man U to win the league this season, but that's the way it looks. Doesn't make me a Man U fan, anything but.

JOHN ROOSEVELT

Augustus: you forgot to mention that "the rebels" have apparently sold chenical weapons to Hizbollah and Hamas in a deal brokered by Iran and the weaponry is on its way across the desert sands...

This intervention will go down in history as one of the lowest points in the modern history of Europe and Us foreign policy.

JOHN ROOSEVELT

Charlieay15: "Viewed dispassionately, I don't think Israel can survive long term"

What was it that JM Keynes said about the "long term" - that we are all dead?

JOHN ROOSEVELT

Liberal conservative;" If the unrest in Syria and Iran had followed the same pattern as in Libya - and perhaps public discontent may one day reach the critical mass where that can happen - then America and Europe would be launching air strikes to help the rebels. It is not an anti-Western conspiracY".

Gosh, now there's a moral yardstick second to none. Inspirational..

Let the green revolutionaries be tortured and perish down till the last man...unless they can muster what our our brave Liberal Conservative deems an 'armed insurrection".

Holy sh*t! One wonders, then, why it took so long for perfidious Albion to react against Serbia.

Amazingly nasty idiocy from this mullet.

An American

As US gas prices soar, so goes our food prices.

We have a government that alloted 50 billion to big corporate farmers to grow more corn for ethanol. Using corn to make ethanol is going to come back to bite not only Americans, but our southern neighbors. As corn becomes more and more expensive to produce and purchase, our southern neighbors will begin to go hungry since corn tortillas are their main food staple. And who could blame these nations/people for resenting a country who hogs their daily food intake for US gas tanks.

This will push South America, Central American and Mexico even farther left, right into the Communist's waiting arms...and we have our greedy big corporate farmers, their paid-for Congressional representatives and the far-left 'green' environmentalists to blame WHEN...not if...it happens.

Obama inherited this looming disaster but has made it even worse by allowing increasing the percentage of ethanol from 10% to 15%. All to keep the environmentalists voting for him. This guy has no soul.

T23CKL

Coming up with a more coherent Middle Eastern policy isn't hard. You start with those factions/governments you can't support (Islamists, Iranian-backed, etc..) and you support the side that wants real freedom/choice for their country. If neither side qualifies, you stay out. As it appears, the Middle East is a rat hole with few "freedom fighters." Let them fight it out.
The world leaders are willfully clueless, and the results are going to be a repeat of the 1979 Revolution at best.

Comprehensiveboy

Mr McNulty I believe you have it right. Same thing will happen in NI when it kicks off again. And it could happen if an Islamic enclave decared a sort of 'Easter Rising Moment' in a British City. They just need to raise the flag with a modicum of popular support amongst their constituency and get a violent response.

robert hendry

What a pity your not the Primeminister Melanie.

Paige Amateur

Every unpunished murder takes away something from the security of every man's life.