This isn’t news; Obama has destroyed our standing in the world, particularly in the Middle East, where three millenia of strife has taught us that a power vacuum is always filled rapidly. We have squandered our blood and treasure in that violent cesspit, and have left our only ally in the region to fend for itself at the mercy of the two leaders who are vying for the title of Obama’s nemesis.
Putin and the Mullahs (yes, I saw them open for Global Nuclear War at The Greek in 1983) are gleefully consolidating power and expanding into new territories. We disastrously misjudged Putin’s foray into Ukraine, and we disastrously misjudged Iranian negotiation as a desire for change, rather than the blatantly obvious desire for money and nuclear weapons. And Russia’s entrance into the Middle East, via Syria, is exactly what should have been expected when the United States destroyed its own credibility by losing Iraq and Afghanistan, refusing to support Israel, and otherwise playing the role of the weak kid on the playground who hopes to avoid a beating by being nice to everyone.
The New York Times’ brilliant editorial board sees Russia’s expansion into the Middle East somewhat differently.
Mr. Putin enabled the Assad government early on, and he has no particular strategy to contain the Syrian conflict. With Russia grappling with sanctions, lower oil prices and a weakened economy, it is unclear how much he can afford to invest in a dead-end war in Syria.
It’s impressive how wrong they could be. Putin’s relationship with Iran will go a long way toward easing whatever financial pain low oil prices and transient sanctions will cause. $150,000,000,000 is a lot of money, and my bet is that Russia will get a big chunk of that money.
Russia is not expanding into the Middle East for some grand humanitarian sensibility; they are expanding into the Middle East to gain control of an important piece in the geopolitical puzzle; one that Obama threw away.
Whether the Mullahs will tolerate the Russian presence after they are done consolidating their own power remains to be seen, but their goals are clear, and Russia will not go out of its way to prevent an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel or a Sunni Arab state. Why should they?
Much as I despise Choom Boy, who has shown time and time again that he can out-surrender Chamberlain, he doesn’t have the nerve to become the next Hitler. A few thousand deaths he can handle, but millions? Nope.
What he CAN do, IMO, is give aid and comfort to the Next Hitler, and I believe he’s already doing that: Whatever his name turns out to be (I don’t pay as much attention as I should to the power structures in Iran, so don’t want to name the wrong dude), I’m betting Adolf II is Iranian, one of those Jew-hating black-garbed bastards who lay down the Muzzie Law.
In fact, when the dust and radiation settle and the Good Guys finally win WWIII, I could see the Mocha Messiah doing an Albert Speer and penning memoirs that “prove” he was a decent sort all along, and never totally fell in with the genocidal scum to whom he gave nukes.
Oh….I have no doubt that the JEF is incapable of any military decision that puts lives in jeopardy. His forte is political infighting and the conspicuous non-decision-decision.
Our new Hitler will be either Putin (unlikely) or the Mullahs…very likely.
Putin has no ideological basis for his behavior….he is driven by craven ends and the desire for land and power.
The Mullahs want Israel gone, the Jews dead, and most of the Sunnis incinerated as well.
The Mullahs. Yes.
After some thought, I have to say that Choom Boy has no trouble making “military decisions.” Where he fails so miserably is in making the RIGHT military choices.
He sees all that’s happening in the world as a kind of video game, happening far away from his luxury digs. Like other Third World thugs, past and present, he can do what he wants and the deaths of countless faceless game pieces doesn’t bother him at all. So he acts on his unconsidered, knee-jerk responses and if THIS plan doesn’t work, THAT one surely will.
In contrast, there’s Putin. If nothing else, he has the ability to think things through and execute his plans. I doubt he has any more regard for individual lives than the Mocha Messiah, but he spends them, and doesn’t waste them.
And Putin is a patriot. President Historic First doesn’t understand that concept.
The mullahs want everyone who isn’t on Team True Muzzie dead and gone. Jews, Christians, other Muzzie sects, doesn’t matter. Their outlook, direct from the Stone Age, is more like the President’s. They function on a less-than-human level.