Posted on 03/20/2011 3:12:14 PM PDT by IbJensen
“Why has every President since Lyndon Johnson been so utterly stupid when it comes to the Middle East?”
It’s not since Johnson. It’s since Roosevelt... and before that, the US was isolationist, so it had no Mideast policy. In short, it’s just the natural result of government. Government can’t do anything right.
Agreed. But GHW Bush not taking care of business was criminal.
Reagan and Bush I both had to deal with mid-east through the prism of the Cold War. This limited their actions: piss off an Arab regime too much and they could go pro-Soviet. Also, Reagan needed Saudi Arabia’s cooperation in lowering oil prices to “starve” the Soviet empire into defeat. The Saudis got a quid pro quo for that.
Another key priority for the US was avoiding another all-out Arab / Isreali war. All the presidents you cite have succeeded in that, so far.
Outside of Isreal, most people in the mid-east wish we were dead. We are enemies, not just of arab governments, but of the arab people. Short of waging genocide against them, there’s not much we can do except play for time, and hope they change changes their minds. It really is that simple and that depressing.
This author is retarded.
If one accepts the left/Islam’s reason for Middle East dysfunction [Israel’s existence], then the source of the problem is the British.
Or the Romans. Depends on how far you want to go back.
Regardless, even Ike f*cked it up by stopping Brit/French ops in the Suez.
Also, your grades are way, way too low. An “F” - seriously? You think what’s happening now is “Failure?” No - an “F” in the mid-east would be the US, USSR, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, and Isreal ALL launching nukes at each other.
That’s what REAL failure in the mid-east looks like.
If he hadn’t, the Arab states would’ve gone pro-Soviet. Even more than they did.
Outside of Isreal, most people in the mid-east wish we were dead. We are enemies, not just of arab governments, but of the arab people. Short of waging genocide against them, there’s not much we can do except play for time, and hope they change changes their minds. It really is that simple and that depressing.
One thing that we can do is get out of their business and let them screw up their own sandbox. And we can become defense conscious in a major way with great solid borders. We can also send the immigrants home..
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2691384/posts
If we blew up the Middle East, why is it still there?
I'm guessing that all of them were smarter than the author of this piece.
It was not untrue.
Don’t ask don’t tell begot Private First Class Bradley Manning who begot wikileaks which toppled the house of cards that is called American Middle East policy.
Carter demonstrated that we are toothless buffoons.
Obama is beyond description.
Unfortunately, the world needs their damn oil. Even if the US “drills here and drills now,” oil is fungible; events in the mid-east will matter hugely to Europe, Japan, and China. But yeah...if we can find massive new reserves here and drive the price of oil down, we’ll be better off.
It was not not untrue...
There is plenty of oil in the Gulf and in Alsaka. I would rather go without while we get oil drilling up to snuff and plaster the country with reactors. Screw em.
Maybe the fact that by the time Qaddafi had been identified as the culprit, Presiddent Reagan was long gone, has something to do with this.
Sorry, but homemade history just doesn't get it..
Maybe the fact that by the time Qaddafi had been identified as the culprit, President Reagan was long gone, has something to do with this.
Sorry, but homemade history just doesn't get it..
Well said.
Well said.
Even if we went without, the rest of the world wouldn’t; their needs would still affect energy prices in the US - that’s what it means to say oil is fungible. If we lower US demand, then yes, the price goes down. But using our own doesn’t change the global price; it just helps our balance of payments.
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