Years before the Obama presidency, Tunisia was considered the best example of a moderate, pragmatic Arab country. This past week, in the first democratic elections ever held in this nation, the Tunisia became an Islamic state. In Libya, after the world watched the public lynching of deposed leader Muammar Kaddafi, his body was put on display in a supermarket freezer. Libya's new leader, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, enthusiastically supported by President Obama, said Sharia (Islamic law) would be the “basic source” of all legislation – meaning we should forget about democracy there as well. Under Sharia, Allah, vis-à-vis the Koran, makes the laws, not man. It’s important to understand that Obama’s "small print" and "leading from behind" approach played a significant role in Libya’s transition to an Islamic state.
Egypt, the largest Arab nation and until recently America's closest Arab ally in the Middle East, will be holding elections in November. All forecasts predict the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood will win the elections, transforming Egypt into an Islamic state. Remember, it was Obama who abandoned President Hosni Mubarak and called on him to resign, allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to take over Egypt.The "Arab Spring" so warmly supported by President Obama has thrown the Arab nations of North Africa into the arms of the most radical of Islamic jihadist movements, paving the way for a renewed Islamic caliphate from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. All this is taking place under the umbrella of a nuclear Iran, a very real threat not only to Israel, but to America as well.
Assume for a moment that Obama did not support the so-called Arab Spring for ideological reasons, but helped create the situation simply by being a "shmegegge." That would infer that the jihadist takeover of the Middle East is the result of the president’s lack of experience, common sense and sheer incompetence.
Perhaps many Americans share my disappointment, especially those who were so hopeful three years ago when then Senator Obama announced his candidacy. At the time, he spoke with seemingly earnest conviction about meeting the nation's challenges, the failure of leadership, and the chronic avoidance of tough decisions.Today, nearly three years into the Obama presidency and the “Brave New World” he helped create in this region of the world, we see Arab nations collapsing like dominoes in the Islamic takeover of the Middle East.
In the coming year, with Obama focusing on the 2012 election, I think we can expect to see little if any direct involvement by him in the Middle East. The president is reluctant to risk another confrontation with Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Obama's political strategists want him to retain and even expand his base of Jewish support and not lose their votes in key states. I believe he’ll seek to empower others, including European leaders, to do his bidding in hopes of not losing the Jewish vote in 2012. Some expect him to use European and Arab leaders to use pressure Netanyahu politically and economically, causing him to capitulate and carry out policies Obama supports. Why risk the support of American Jews in the upcoming election? Why pay a political price when European and Arab leaders don’t have a Jewish constituency to worry about. Let others carry the burden and take the heat. This will be one of the major political challenges Israel will have to deal with this year.
Unfortunately, Obama is using a similar strategy of letting others to carry the burden of his misguided policies in American domestic politics as well. The recentAnti-Defamation League & American Jewish Committee unity pledge on Israel is only the latest example of how President Obama burdens others with politically difficult choices so as to focus attention away from himself and avoid being abandoned electorally by supporters of Israel. By convincing American Jewish organizations to avoid criticizing or challenging Obama's foreign policy approach towards Israel; he has achieved the opposite result and sparked a heated debate that will only strengthen the perception of Obama of being a genuine "shmegegge ".
This attempt to silence those that question the Obama's administration's foreign policy towards Israelis not only unworthy of the best of America's tradition of free speech but reminds us all of the imposed silence on the Jewish community by the Democratic Party during the Holocaust. Obama's pathetic attempt to silence Jews will not succeed. Today as opposed to the 1940's, Israel exists, empowering Jews to stand up everywhere and be heard. Gone are the days in which Jews must conform to White House dictates. Obama's latest insult to the Jewish Community should remind us all what to expect should Obama win the re-election and be freed of electoral constraints. Obama's latest attempt to manipulate the Jewish community provides a glimpse into his "Brave New World."