Israel Matzav

Self-preservation

In a lengthy article about Afghanistan, Fouad Ajami puts his finger on how many in this region regard the United States.

In Afghanistan, and throughout the Middle East, populations long in the path, and in the shadow, of great foreign powers have a good feel for the will and staying power of those who venture into their world. If Iran's bid for nuclear weapons and a larger role in the region goes unchecked, and if Iran is now a power of the Mediterranean (through Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Beirut), the leaders in Kabul, whoever they are, are sure to do their best to secure for themselves an Iranian insurance policy.

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All this plays out under the gaze of an Islamic world that is coming to a consensus that a discernible American retreat in the region is in the works. America's enemies are increasingly brazen, its friends unnerved. Witness the hapless Lebanese, once wards of U.S. power, now making pilgrimages, one leader at a time, to Damascus. They, too, can read the wind: If Washington is out to "engage" that terrible lot in Syria, they better scurry there to secure reasonable terms of surrender.

The shadow of American power is receding; the rogues are emboldened. The world has a way of calling the bluff of leaders and nations summoned to difficult endeavors. Would that our biggest source of worry in that arc of trouble was the intemperate outburst of our ally in Kabul.

Thankfully, our leadership in Israel is also apparently figuring out that the time has come to stop paying homage to a big power to the West that will not save us. Witness Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision not to go to Washington this coming week. But our insurance policy is not in Syria or Iran. It is elsewhere. Some of us figured out where that elsewhere is long ago. Will the rest figure it out in time?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:24 PM