Careful what you wish for

Americans tend to view things in absolutes.  One-issue politics is a good example.  A candidate can be an otherwise smart, all-around good guy perfectly capable of leading, but if he/she crosses you on your one hot-button issue, he's out.  We refuse to take a little bitter with our sweet, and it often blows up in our face.

The Mid-East today, complete with its radical Islam, is a textbook example.  Back during the first Gulf War against Saddam Hussein, President George H W Bush had a clear shot at taking out the Iraqi dictator.  But George The First listened to the Saudi King (I'll just call him Ralph because I'm too lazy to look up his real name) who told him to be careful, that taking out Saddam would upset the balance of power in the volatile region.  Bad as he was, we might end up with someone worse.

But we like to wear white hats, and wear white outfits, and ride white horses.  We're the Good Guys, always fighting for "Truth, Justice, and The American Way".  There's really nothing at all wrong with that....it's a genuinely noble idea, actually....but it often doesn't play well in the cold, cruel, REAL world.  

Sure, there are no doubt sinister motives behind much of what we do, but it's always sold to the American people as "taking the high road".  And because we're basically good people, we buy it.

The old USSR first stirred the fire ant pile when they invaded Afghanistan back in '79.  The Afghan's, aided by other Muslims around the region and the US, showed them how to fight dirty.  (We didn't give a flip about Afghanistan at the time. We just wanted to poke a sharp stick in the Rooski's eye.)  That's where the shit originally hit the fan.

Saddam Hussein tortured and killed his opponents and gassed his Kurdish citizens.  Bashir Assad (Syria) did the same.  Libya's Muammar Qaddafi had horrendously bad taste in costumes uniforms.  Oh, and he killed anyone who looked cross-eyed at him.  And given half a chance we would have popped a cap in any number of other Mid-East dictators, too.  (Truth be told, including the Saudi royal family, also.  Their treatment of women and their cruel form of Islamic justice rightly rankles us.)  The world would be a better place if they were gone, right?  Right??

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!  We indeed helped make it happen, either overtly or covertly.

But here's the problem:  Despicable as those people are/were, their replacements (or lack of replacements) are worse, just as Saudi King Ralph predicted.  Despotism/anarchy reigns in the Mid-East today, and it's in these conditions that al Qaeda and Islamic State flourishes.  We brought this on ourselves.

Our intentions were so honest and pure....we wanted to share our wonderful way of life with the downtrodden.  We want them to enjoy freedom and the good life, too.  But based on the fact that they didn't RSVP to our invitation, I'm guessing they don't want it.  To many of them, killing/bombing/beheading is just a way of life.  "Sniper", "bomb maker", and "blade man" are probably legitimate career choices recommended by Mid-East high school guidance counselors.  

Maybe we should have just left them alone?  Maybe we should just sit back and watch 'em hack each other to pieces.  There apparently isn't much we can do about it anyway.  *Note to self....we'll need more popcorn*

Sometimes there isn't anything wrong with wearing a slightly soiled hat.

S

Well played, Pootie-Pooh

It should show up on YouTube any second now and is sure to go viral....Russia's Vladimir Putin tap dancing all over Barack Obama's face.  Admit it Barack.  Students for years to come will be doing their Doctoral Dissertations on the many ways you botched your handling of the Syrian mess, and in contrast how Putin aced his opportunity.

Surely Barack understands the American people are tired of 10+ years of war, throwing our youth and our money into efforts to civilize those Heathens of the East.  There was no way in hell we were going to look kindly on picking a fight with Syria.  

If he had really wanted to punish Syria for their use of chemical weapons he would have just cold-cocked them like Presidents Reagan and Clinton did when they found someone kicking them in the shins:  Executive Order....no telegraphing your intentions....no hand-holding with Congress....just BAM!  Some quick strikes, done.

Instead President Obama popped off and drew a line in the sand, then realized he couldn't cash the check his mouth had written.  "Aw, come on Congress.  Jump in with me.  Then when it all hits the fan I can say, 'Hey, they said it was OK.'"

By contrast Vladimir Putin has pulled a rabbit out of his hat, coming across as a peacemaker.  Imagine that!  Pootie-Pooh, a man of peace.  Ha!  Not only is he getting Syria to put their chemical weapons under international control (really?), but he's putting some of his elite Spetsnaz commandos in to "advise" / fight the Syrian rebels.  That civil war is FINIS.  No one is going to back the rebels now....they're a losing cause.  Assad wins.

Vladimir Putin has effectively baled out Barack Obama.  He doesn't have to press for a vote in Congress that he would have lost anyway.  And we don't have to throw another few hundred million dollars (BILLION dollars?) that we don't have into that sewer we call the Mid-East. 

A lame-duck President has just become even more lame.  Don't look for anything else of importance to come out of his administration for the remainder of his term in office.  He'll take credit for a gradually improving economy, but really he's just along for the ride.   That will be his last hurrah.  He's spent.

Game, set, match;  Pootie-Pooh. 

S