HEGEMONY IN MIDDLE EAST IS DEAD!

HEGEMONY IN MIDDLE EAST IS DEAD!

(Robert Dreyfuss, Asian Times)

(Frazer Chronicle)

Hegemony in the Middle East by the United States is coming to an end, the simultaneous drone raids in Libya and Somalia last month, targeting an alleged al-Qaeda fugitive and an alleged kingpin of the al-Shabab Islamist movement, were less a sign of America’s awesome power than two minor exceptions that proved an emerging rule: namely, that the power, prestige, and influence of the United States in the broader Middle East and its ability to shape events is waning, and in fact at this point,  the U.S. holds little ability to shape anything.

Twelve years after the United States invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban and a decade after the misguided invasion of Iraq, both designed to consolidate and expand America’s regional power by removing adversaries…..Washington’s actual standing in country after country, including its chief allies in the region, has never been weaker.

Predator and Reaper drone attacks aside, Obama and the United States has become the Rodney Dangerfield of the Middle East. Not only does no one there respect the United States, but nobody really fears it, either…..and increasingly, no one pays much of any attention to American diplomatic or military activity.

The reasons are obvious as to why the U.S. no longer holds the position that it used to, military blunders in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of years that the U.S. military has taken to…..well, achieve a kind of stand-off in the two countries has played a huge roll, the muck-up of monetary developments in the two countries as well as propping up favorable political proxy governments.

The entire Middle East has watched and watched and waited for some sort of cohesive activity (a game plan if you will) to come out of the effort exhibited. What the countries setting in the bleachers saw was one screw-up after another. Whatever credibility that the United States might have had ten or twelve years ago, whatever compassion might have been felt for the U.S. after September 11, 2001 isn’t even a distant remembrance, its completely gone, frittered away by stupid incompetence.

IMPERIAL PRESENCE-- IT’S GONE

I remember about 7 years ago, standing next to a fella in the privy, a talkative fella, and he was talking about why the U.S. was fighting in Iraq, freeing people, spreading democracy and the usual crap that somebody, apparently like this guy, was talked about.

As I was zipping up I couldn’t help myself and I retorted that the plain simple truth was the fact that the U.S. was interested in one thing, and one thing only in Iraq…..crude oil, and the money and income it could bring some of the American petroleum industry.

The guy blew a cork, thank God he was a slow urinater or I might have had a fist fight on my hands, it’s really strange how some people get a idea stuck in their mind, or some half baked opinion, and will fight to the death over it.

Imperial attitudes, hegemony practices or nation building, it doesn’t matter, whatever you decide to call it…..the affliction, and make no mistake, it is an illness, has to be one of the toughest frames of mind to be in. Everybody wants to take a shot at you, and whenever you falter, exhibit poor judgment, these people will come out of the woodwork for a piece of you.

Other countries wanting to flex their muscles in this oil-consuming era are engaging their petroleum suppliers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. The result throughout the region, the relationship that the United States had enjoyed would seem to becoming unglued. World powers like China and India have become players on the international stage…..petroleum-wise.

The time when the United States could set its own scale and amount from the oil producing Middle East would seem to be coming to an end. Allies like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel openly challenge the United States in an almost open rebellion.

I VOTED FOR OBAMA TWICE, WOE IS ME

I used to think that I was relatively smart, but over the past year or so I’ve been put into my place…..and it’s because of the Obama foreign policy, his health care plan, and I guess his elitist attitude. Last year the president drew a red line in the sand, suggesting that any use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces would precipitate a U.S. military response. Assad ignored him, and gassed hundreds of Syrian civilians to death.

The reaction to Obama and a Bush-style coalition of the willing never materialized and domestic support for any kind of military activity targeting the country was nearly nil. Polls showed that Americans overwhelmingly opposed any kind of intervention in Syria, even when it was obvious that dreaded chemicals were used.

When Obama approached Congress and was turned down there for his proposed Tomahawk cruise missile use, the president was left to either go it alone or reluctantly back down. Surprisingly Russia came to the president’s rescue, when they (Russia) volunteered to dismantle and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal.

In another fiasco, and as a result of the Syrian chemical event, Egypt in response to how the U.S. handled the confrontation now views the Americans as a laughingstock. It’s what you get, the U.S. installed the Iraqi government back in 2003, and now, after the 2011 evacuation of U.S. troops, and after the U.S. wasn’t allowed to keep a small contingent of troops, the Iraqi’s have moved closer to the Iranian orbit.

The United States, through its foul-ups, and almost inconceivable ignorance of the region…..even after more than a decade there, continues to alienate allies by attitude, activity and response to events that unfold in the region.

The policies of the United States with regards to foreign policy since 2003, in the region, have been mired in the 20^th century with regards to almost every action taken. Military might was once the linchpin of might, now; in the 21^st century it’s the ink pen and the price of a barrel of crude oil. The Middle East has discovered that other super powers have discovered the Middle East…..and they like what they can see in the coming union with someone besides the United States and its outdated actions, views, and opinions!

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!