Israel Matzav

The Obama doctrine

This summary of the 'Obama doctrine' is excellent with the one small caveat that I believe that he ascribes too great a role to the United States in creating the State of Israel.

In fact, its very objective is to undercut America's pre-eminent global role, reducing its great-power status to that of a multilateral partner equal to Russia, China or the European Union. At its core, the Obama Doctrine maintains that all societies and cultures are morally equal. More important, promoting democracy and human rights has been abandoned in favor of "improving America's standing in the world."

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The clearest example is Iran. The recent street protests against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's sham "re-election" presented a golden opportunity for the Obama administration to trigger regime change.

The mass demonstrations revealed the profound divisions in Iran and the widespread opposition to the theocratic regime. Iranian protesters were seething not only at the mullahs' domestic incompetence, but also at their fanatical foreign policy. They seek Islamism with a human face -- a Muslim reform movement marked by greater openness, religious tolerance and respect for women's rights.

The dissidents realize that Mr. Ahmadinejad's acquisition of the bomb will lead to only one disastrous conclusion: a nuclear war with Israel. Iranians don't want to be sacrificed as part of a revolutionary, apocalyptic Shi'ite vision to destroy the Jews and hasten the coming of the Islamic messiah -- the so-called hidden imam.

Instead of openly supporting Iran's democratic movement, Mr. Obama stood by and watched passively as fascist brownshirts -- the paramilitary Basij -- gunned down, arrested and tortured peaceful demonstrators. Nothing will stop Mr. Obama from his policy of diplomatic engagement -- even innocent blood being spilled on the streets of Tehran, blood that represents America's and the region's best hope of sweeping away the evil Islamic Republic.

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The strategic flaw in Mr. Obama's thinking is that traditional diplomacy or containment does not work with religious fanatics. Tehran's mullocracy believes in nuclear war as salvation. Mr. Obama's policies are reassuring them they have nothing to fear from America.

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In short, he is a transnational leftist who believes American power must be restrained, not enhanced. More important, he is a cultural relativist. He is convinced the United States is not a singular force for good in the world, but an imperial, jingoistic nation that must be chastened -- and humbled -- on the world stage.

Read the whole thing. It's a damning indictment of President Obama and everything he stands for.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:38 PM