HOME :: PUBLICATIONS :: Pakistani and Palestinian Problems Pile on the Pressure, by PRESIDENTIAL POLICY: DOES IT MAKE THE GRADE?, JAMES JAY CARAFANO, PHD

Pakistani and Palestinian Problems Pile on the Pressure

by PRESIDENTIAL POLICY: DOES IT MAKE THE GRADE?, JAMES JAY CARAFANO, PHD September 27, 2011
 
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, was attacked on September 13.
 
While the Middle East continues to be the president’s top problem, the “problem” came closer to home last week.  The Palestinian push for statehood at the UN put the US in an embarrassing position. Obama had tried to broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians by distancing himself from Israel and claiming to be an “honest broker.” The Palestinians interpreted the initiative as an act of weakness, opening up an opportunity to embarrass the US and isolate Israel. Too late the White House recognized it had too little to deter the Palestinians from violating the Oslo Peace Accords and pressing for statehood status at the UN without first completing final status talks with Israel. Then, instead of playing hardball at the UN, President Obama elected to address the General Assembly, delivering a speech which did nothing to resolve the dispute.
 
Heritage UN expert Brett Schaefer called Obama’s UN address little more than a domestic “stump speech.” Schaefer observed, “The speech was simply wrong for the venue. The President appeared at times during the first half of the speech to pause as if expecting applause, but unlike previous years, was greeted with silence. The audience seemed to know that the President wasn’t really talking to them and reacted accordingly.”
 
Schaefer also noted, “President Obama proffered a more robust defense of Israel than has been his want, perhaps driven by a desire to bolster waning support among American Jewish voters. Even so, he still maintained a false moral equivalence between the Palestinians and Israel, stating, ‘That truth – that each side has legitimate aspirations – is what makes peace so hard. And the deadlock will only be broken when each side learns to stand in each other’s shoes.’” This statement shows the president still doesn’t get it. Israel is the most important ally the US has in the Middle East. On the other hand, the PLO is corrupt and Hamas is a terrorist organization and tool of Iran. Both oppress their own people. By trying to treat the two as equal, Obama continues to undermine US interests and promote the creation of the kind of regime that the Arab Spring purported to seek to bring down.
 
If the debacle on the Hudson were not bad enough, the administration ended the week facing revelations that the Pakistani intelligence service was directly linked to a terrorist organization killing Americans in Afghanistan. The Heritage Foundation’s Lisa Curtis writes, “credible U.S. press reports yesterday revealed that cell phones found on the attackers in the September 13 attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul were linked to Pakistani intelligence officials. The U.S. has long known that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), works closely with the Haqqani insurgent network, which has been responsible for some of the fiercest attacks against U.S. and coalition soldiers in Afghanistan. But if media reports on the cell phone links are accurate, this would be the first time the U.S. has a ‘smoking gun’ on Pakistani involvement in a direct attack on U.S. civilian interests.”
 
Now, the administration will have to face up to the fact that it has a feckless ally in Pakistan.
 
The problems with both Palestine and Pakistan are rooted in the administration’s own foreign policy failures. The Obama Doctrine held that the US should do less to stand up for its own interests. Now, Obama is reaping the results of that approach to foreign policy. When the US stands down, others stand up and take advantage of America’s ambivalence.
 
This bitter lesson was learned by Jimmy Carter—and is now being relearned by Obama.
 
Obama’s grade for the week has to be “F” for a foreign policy that is fairly inept.
 
 
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affairs, intelligence, and strategy, military operations and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation.
 

James Carafano is a leading expert in defense affairs, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at The Heritage Foundation. He was an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and fleet professor at the U.S. Naval War College. Carafano is the author of several military history books and studies. Carafano also is the coauthor of Winning the Long War: Lessons from the Cold War for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom; coauthor of the text book, Homeland Security published by McGraw-Hill; and the principal author of Emergency Responders: Drastically Underfunded, Dangerously Unprepared. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and has provided commentary for ABC, BBC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, SkyNews, PBS, National Public Radio, the History Channel, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, Telemundo, Al Arabiya and Australian, Austrian, Canadian, French, Greek, Hong Kong, Irish, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish television. His editorials have appeared in newspapers nationwide including The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, The New York Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today and The Washington Times. Carafano is a member of the National Academy's Board on Army Science and Technology, the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee, and is a Senior Fellow at the George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute.

Archives Pre-May 8, 2008: Please click here


blog comments powered by Disqus

WTH?! House Republicans want to preserve 'popular' parts of Obamacare mandate

May 16, 2012  11:19 PM

Politico is in the tank for Dems, and yet some conservatives are just taking Politico's word about the GOP keeping parts of ObamaCare.— RB (@RBPundit) May 17, 2012 What part of “UNDO OBAMACARE” don’t the Beltway Republican leaders understand? Yes, this is a Politico story. But 1) Republican crapweasels leak to Politico all the time; [...]

Jon Huntsman's daughter: My dad should run for mayor of New York City

May 16, 2012  11:16 PM

NYC seems to like wealthy RINOs. Huntsman would fit in perfectly! Then again, not everyone seems so enthusiastic: Is your grandpa going to buy it for him? @HuntsmanAbby: Trying to convince dad @JonHuntsman to run for mayor of NYC. Thoughts? #whynot?”—   (@Toffleresque) May 17, 2012 What about Nebraska Senate seat? RT @HuntsmanAbby: Trying to [...]

Pig Maher: Romney bullying is way worse than child molestation

May 16, 2012  11:01 PM

Appearing as a guest on Conan O’Brien’s TV show last night, comedian Bill Maher thought it would be a good idea to say this: But as far as this bullying, you know, this made me think of of of the Michael Jackson situation. Because, you know, he was accused of being a child molester. We’ll never know [...]

Team Obama: It's awful that in 2012 use of birth control has become controversial

May 16, 2012  09:06 PM

Nice strawman, clearly designed to scare soccer moms by stoking fears about scary religious-right fanatics. In Saudi Arabia, use of birth control might be controversial. Here in the United States, by contrast, the Supreme Court ruled 47 years ago that use of birth control is a constitutional right. There is no serious effort afoot to overturn [...]

MTV bows to Obama on speech conflict

May 16, 2012  08:26 PM

MTV Juggles VMA Telecast to Appease Obama's Fading Youth Vote dlvr.it/1ZYrv4— Breitbart.com Feed (@BreitbartFeed) May 16, 2012 "That's one really tough decision out of the way," said no one. MT @VanityFair: MTV Awards Same Time as Obama Speech vnty.fr/JvN3cc— Gabbi Baker (@gabbibaker) May 16, 2012 Via Deadline Hollywood: MTV does not want to split the [...]

FSM Archives

  FSM Archive   Search Must Reads
More in PUBLICATIONS ( 1 OF 25 ARTICLES )