Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote an op-ed article in The New York Times on September 12, 2013 warning that a potential U.S. military strike against Syria would “result in more innocent victims and escalation.” The former director of KGB wrote the following: “A (military strike against Syria) would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear program and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.”
Putin also criticized American exceptionalism. However, from the very beginning of his presidency, Barack Obama rejected the notion that the United States was exceptional in any way. He believes that Americans are the same as the Greeks and the British. Americans have always felt that they are very fortunate to live in a nation dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A nation that became the first constitutional Republic in the modern world and where the individual has more rights that the state. A nation that received those unalienable rights from God, and not from any ruler.
The Russian dictator lectured Obama as he were a little boy. Putin knew that Obama did not have the votes in Congress to go to war against Syria, so he was acting from strength. Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat from New Jersey and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated after reading Putin’s op-ed piece in The New York Times “that he wanted to vomit.” The one that should be vomiting is the president for his mishandling of the situation with Syria. Barack Obama is solely responsible for the debacle of his Syrian policy due to his zigzagging, incoherent and erratic policy with that small country.
The president first declared, that without the consent of Congress, he would attack Syria in a limited strike to punish the use of chemical weapons against civilians by the Syrian regime on August 21, 2013. Obama went to play golf after explaining to the Syrian dictator that his military action would last a very short time and would do limited damage. Obama announced that his objective was not regime change. A few days after the Secretary of State John Kerry said that the military strike would be “unbelievably, unbelievably small.” Later on Obama changed his mind and said he would seek Congressional approval before attacking Syria and, if he failed to get approval from Congress, he would probably not attack Syria after all.
After a few days, it became quite clear that both houses of Congress would not support the president’s resolution for a military strike. Most lawmakers saw how the overwhelming majority of Americans were opposed to an intervention in Syria and did not want to risk defeat in the next election. Additionally, many senators and U.S. representatives realized that attacking the Syrian regime would help the al Qaeda-connected rebels.
However, no one in Congress has questioned that the president is sending weapons to the Nusra Front, which is on the U.S. State Department list of terrorist organizations. The Department of State has issued a “prohibition against knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material support or resources to, or engaging in transactions with, the Nusra Front…” The leader of this terrorist organization is Abu Mohammad al-Golani, who has pledged his allegiance to the head of al Qaida Ayman al-Zawari. The Nusra Front is the best equipped rebel group and has an estimated army of 10,000 soldiers.
President Obama, by providing weapons and support to the Nusra Front, is in violation of the Patriot Act which “prohibits knowingly harboring persons who have committed or about to commit a variety of terrorist offenses.” The Patriot Act imposes tough new penalties on those who commit and support terrorists operations both at home and abroad. The Nusra Front has killed many Christian civilians and committed other atrocities in Syria. Is the president violating the Patriot Act? Of course, he is. Obama violates frequently the Constitution and any other law that he chooses to and Congress looks the other way.
Secretary Kerry, in an informal remark, said in London that if Syria were to give up its chemical weapons, it would then be unnecessary to attack that country. The Russian dictator Vladimir Putin made an immediate proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control and, ultimately, destroy them. Obama eagerly accepted the Russian proposal for he believed that it would spare him from the humiliation of the rejection of his resolution by Congress. Obama then requested Congress to postpone the vote. More than likely Russia is playing with Obama and the negotiations of the Putin regime with the United States would go on for a very long time. Additional demands will be made upon the United States in order to add injury to insult. Putin may have thrown a “lifesaver” to Obama but he has no “intention” of rescuing him. After all, the Russian dictator wants to humiliate our president.
Lignet, an strategic and intelligence publication, published an article on September 13, 2013 entitled “Syrian Crisis Shifts to the Diplomatic Chessboard.” It reported that the United States will now have to begin complex and protracted diplomacy with Russia. It also reported that the “outcome is far from certain but throughout the process the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will remain in power and Russian international prestige is likely to increase.” Syria is estimated to have as much as 1,500 tons of chemical weapons in the middle of a war zone and it will be very difficult, as explained earlier, to remove and destroy these chemical weapons.
Lignet recommended that the agreement of the United States to negotiate with Russia should be conditioned on a firm timeline for the sides to show substantial progress in the negotiations. Otherwise, Russia would play a game of open-ended negotiations. It also recommended that the United States should keep a substantial naval presence in the Eastern Mediterranean as a reminder of the capabilities of our nation to carry an attack on Syria. Lignet admitted that “reports from around the Arab world as well as Israel reflect a growing disquiet over the president’s perceived vacillation and weakness.”
President Bash al-Assad of Syria has turned the crisis to his advantage and, like Putin, is humiliating President Barack Obama. Robert F. Worth wrote an article entitled “Listing Demands, Assad Uses Crises His Advantage” in The New York Times on September 12, 2013. The reporter explained that the Syrian dictator has added a new demand upon the United States. Bashar al-Assad told a Russian television interviewer on September 11, 2013 that in exchange for giving up his chemical weapons arsenal, he will require that the United States stop arming the Syrian rebels. The Syrian dictator appeared relaxed and confident and he hinted that Israel should ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention before he would agree to do it. Assad was following the talking points given to him by Russia, which were designed to embarrass Obama. What will be the next demands made upon our nation?
Obama’s indecisiveness under pressure was seen clearly by members of both parties in Congress, the American public, and our allies as very troubling and alarming. Unfortunately, Obama is viewed by many in our nation and abroad as an “incompetent,” “erratic,” “in over his head”, and “amateurish” Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States of America. A headline by the London newspaper, The Telegraph, said “Barack Obama is leading from behind in Syria- and can’t see where he is going.”
Efraim Karsh, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at King’s College in London, wrote an article in USA Today on September 11, 2013. The professor explained that “Obama is viewed in the Middle East as a weak president and this is an opportunity for Russia to reassert some of its influence at the West’s expense.” The net effect of all of this is that our nation has had a rapid erosion of world influence in the Middle East and around the world. Obama is completely responsible for the decline of America as a world superpower. Perhaps, this was his objective all along so that he could implement the dream of his Marxist anti-colonial father, Barack Obama Senior, of hurting the United States and Western nations to pay for the sins of colonialism and imperialism.
Conclusion
Russia and Syria will now engage the United States in endless negotiations and delays, just as Saddam Hussein delayed the United Nations arms control inspectors from entering Iraq. Both nations know that our president is an extremely weak leader and their leaders are making Obama look like a fool. Of course, our national security will suffer.
The president cannot lead from behind and be seen by our allies and enemies as presiding over a nation which is a superpower. Obama’s failures in foreign policies have inflicted great harm to our country. All of our enemies, including Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela will ignore and oppose our national interests and policies around the world. Our allies will become even more concerned as our nation appears to be in decline and retreat. China recently told Australia that it would have to choose between being a friend of China or a friend of the United States. China believes that it is a rising power in Asia and that the United States is a declining power in Asia and around the world. China and its ally Russia will become more imperialistic and aggressive with their neighbors and with us.
This is the result of electing and reelecting in fraudulent elections an inexperience Marxist community organizer and mediocre politician. Barack Obama´s first year of his second term has been a complete failure in domestic and foreign policies. This writer fears for what could happen in the United States over the next three years. This writer can only pray to God Almighty that the hole that Obama keeps on digging and putting our beloved nation in, will not be too deep, so a future strong president could pull us out and restore U.S. power and influence in the world for th
