Israel Matzav

Obama and America's allies

In his weekly column in the Washington Examiner, Power Line's Paul Mirengoff discusses the Godfather's sage advice: 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.' Paul focuses on three allies that the United States has abandoned in the age of Obama - Britain, Israel and India. At Commentary Magazine's Contentions blog, Abe Greenwald focuses on another abandoned American ally, Georgia (Hat Tip: Power Line). And in the Boston Globe, Kapil Komireddi focuses on Obama's treatment of India. Mirengoff and Greenwald both take a stab at the most puzzling question: Why? Here's Mirengoff: Why has Obama violated the intuitively obvious portion of the Godfather's adage?

Perhaps there is a side of him that harbors contempt for nations that find large amounts of common ground with the U.S., a country for which Obama himself feels the need constantly to apologize.

Or perhaps, Obama sees himself as a philosopher king, a "neutral" who stands above the "usual politics" of favoring particular nations. From this lofty, ahistorical perch, it may be possible to view Britain as "the same as the other 190 countries in the world."

But the laws of history, including the importance of true allies, still apply. If Obama tries to escape them he will likely find himself echoing Michael Corleone's lament: "just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

And here's Greenwald:

There are two other possibilities. First, Biden is being Biden, letting the muse guide him off the reservation into the land of incoherence. Second, Obama is being Obama, counterbalancing the pro-Georgian line he took with Putin last week against its opposite so that when things go kablooey he can test the political winds, refer back to one of his two faces, choose a direction, and cite his consistency.

The smart money is on that second option. Barack Obama likes to buy time, label real choices “false choices,” and remain unfettered for as long as possible by things like policy. The administration is, in short, commitment-phobic. Which is a problem if you’re in Russia’s “traditional sphere of influence,” given Vladimir Putin’s indefatigable commitment to restoring the Russian superpower. Similarly, it’s a problem if you’re Israel and your neighbors are committed to your eradication. Obama is buying time that isn’t exclusively his.

There's something to what both of them are saying, but I believe that two other factors need to be considered. First, Obama genuinely believes that Muslims have been treated unfairly in the aftermath of 9/11. He is trying to undo that treatment by trying to 'engage' with Muslim nations that have been outside the pale since 9/11 - like Iran and Syria - and generally believes that he can bring peace between Muslims and the rest of the world. That explains - in part - Obama's treatment of India and Israel, both of which are contending with rivals from the Muslim world.

But with respect to Israel specifically, there's another factor, and I still believe that Victor Davis Hanson has done the best job of summing up that factor. According to Hanson, Obama has

a genuine feeling that Israel is an aggressive, Western imperialist power exploiting indigenous people of color who simply wish to be free--in other words, the Rev. Wright-Bill Ayers-Rashid Khalidi view of the Middle East.

Wright, Ayers and Khalidi don't consider Israel a friend or an ally.

For those of you who have never seen the Godfather, here's the scene to which Paul Mirengoff was alluding.

Let's go to the videotape.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:29 AM