Tuesday, April 29, 2014

America - Leading From Behind Or Not At All?

America - Leading From Behind Or Not At All?

April 29, 2014 | Debbie Smith
Share this article

“In Europe, Asia, and the Middle East and beyond, America’s most dangerous opponents are engaging in aggression and brinkmanship unseen in decades,” states Caroline Glick in a recent article in the Jerusalem Post.

The current administration’s policy of appeasement has been met with increasing hostility by the Chinese and other rivals.

Despite having a defense treaty with the Philippine’s, the US government has failed to respond to China’s seizure of the Scarborough Shoal and menacing the Second Thomas Shoal, another Philippine possession.

Similarly, Beijing is challenging Japan’s control over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and even making territorial claims on Okinawa.

Additionally, China has threatened Japanese and South Korean airspace and waterways, an attack on the principle of free maritime navigation and an act of aggression against these countries.

While the US responds to China’s antagonism with placation, Beijing answers with contempt.

When China sold North Korea mobile missile launchers capable of delivering ICBM’s, the US shied away from publicly condemning China’s government.

Shockingly, these very missile launchers have increased Pyongyang’s ability to strike targets in the US!

Consider also, Iran.

Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, recently insisted upon Iran’s right to enrich uranium to 90%, thus furtively admitting that they are building a nuclear bomb.

In the face of a failed policy in Iran, the US changed its expectation from preventing Iran’s nuclear bomb production in “many years” to “six months”, according to John Kerry.

Additionally, the interim deal with Iran relaxed economic sanctions allowing a resurgence of the Iranian economy. Iran is now exporting 1.65 million barrels of oil a day rather than the 1 million agreed upon in the deal.

Instead of encouraging the mullah’s to shelve the nuclear aspirations of Iran, not only are they successfully building a bomb, they are rebuilding their economy.

So is the current policy a failure? Or a success as the current administration would have us believe?

Elsewhere in the Middle East, al- Qaida, is openly meeting under the leadership of Nasiral-Wuhayshi, second in command of the terror organization.

Wuhayshi directly threatened the US, saying, “We must eliminate the cross…and the bearer of the cross is America.” This meeting with hundreds of terrorist in Yemen was featured on a jihadist website.

This rise in al-Qaida activity follows last year’s suspension of drone strikes designed to eliminate targets with minimal collateral deaths and no “boots on the ground.”

Let’s not forget Syria.

Despite an agreement to destroy his country’s chemical weapons arsenal, Bashar Assad is now behind schedule and as late as April 12th, using the weapons against his citizens, again!

“As for Europe, the Obama administration’s responses to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and to its acts of aggression against Ukraine bespeak a lack of seriousness and dangerous indifference to the fate of the US alliance structure in Eastern Europe,” Stated Glick.

As Russian forces penetrated Ukraine, the US sent food to Ukraine and an unarmed warship to the Black Sea. Economic sanctions imposed against Russia have been mild and so far unsuccessful.

After six weeks, since the initial annexation by Russia of Crimea, the US is finally deploying 600 troops to the Baltic states for “military exercises” meant to show” European allies, and Moscow, the level of concern the US has for the situation!”

As contempt for the US authority grows, aggressors are emboldened and millions of lives hang in the balance.

Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of these developments is the lack luster response of not only the current administration, but of Congress as well, on both sides of the aisle.

As much as President Obama, and his senior officials, shuttle from country to country with the goal of reassuring nervous allies that trust in US security guarantees is still valid, the allies do not seem to be buying it!

This lack of trust led Israeli officials to openly state, for the first time, that the US cannot be depended upon to either secure Israel’s eastern frontier or to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

And it is because of this that South Korea, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, are considering acquiring their own nuclear weapons!

Not only is the US government apathetic about the aggression among these American foes, the American people also seem indifferent to these global events.

Clearly, the world is an increasingly dangerous place, and growing more hazardous daily, possibly the closest to WW III it has been since 1939.

Why does America not recognize the growing threats on the global stage? Some wonder, do Americans care about the rest of the world at all?

The direction of the United States of America must rapidly be changed or the nation faces increasing strategic threats and retreat from any ability to lead, even “from behind.”

No comments: