Spiegel: “Obama’s Middle East Policy is in ruins”

Spiegel: “Obama’s Middle East Policy is in ruins.” Funny, over here US journ0lists are telling us it’s Romney’s campaign that’s in ruins. “The West must be tough on terrorism. And it must show that it can differentiate between rabble-rousers and peaceful Muslims.” Racists. BTW, check out this map of current Muslim protests throughout the world…

This post was last modified on January 26, 2021

Bonfire of the Absurdities: After 35 year career writing software for IBM mainframes, am now self-employed contractor thinking of joining a union and striking for higher wages. Cured morbid fear of heights when I learned to look at them as lengths standing on end. Uncompromising in refusal to accept browser cookies. Amateur investor who has accumulated a small fortune in the market after starting out years ago with a large one. For recreation, I run, hike, kayak and play tennis but will not consider synchronized swimming under any circumstances.

View Comments (53)

  • Let's give credit where credit is due. In the movie, 2016, D'Souza shows a map of the United States of Islam as a part of his thesis that the Islamists will conquer northern Africa, the Middle East and some of SW Asia. The map produced by Speigel is an exact overlay of D'Souza's map.

    I would not dismiss this as something that could not come together. With a diminished US and unpredictable behavior from Russia and China, who knows what will happen? India better get themselves on high alert as they are surrounded by the crazies.

    • And now the crazies are in India as well, two embassies attacked there today from what I saw on the news.... we put down rabid dogs, when people act as such they too should be put down as well.

    • the combined GDP of all those territories is less then overwhelming. I added them up 1-2 years ago while debating someone else here (this is when Glenn Beck was just blithely filling in the map like some Risk game).. If i recall it was somewhere around 1/3 of the EU

      Even assuming they can unify under single rule, they present a strained border to most of the worlds powers, generally bounding unproductive territory, and hardly presenting a geographic threat to American mainlands. China already encompasses a massive muslim population in its western territory, and I believe they'd take whatever military action was necessary to prevent factionalism or secession. Russia has similar issues, at smaller scale, with its own separatists

      Pakistan already chafes at our growing strategic relationship with India... and so sad I am for them. I prefer Hindus anyway

      I just don't see how some new Caliphate both emerges and then threatens the rest of the planet, unless they commit nuclear suicide

      • i should add, though.. the DREEAM of this unattainable Caliphate will lead some evil Islamist fool to nuclear genocide. I am often scared for NYC or Tel Aviv. I hope we can stop it, or someone over there can.. and if we don't, Game Over Muhammed. There will be no protecting Mecca anymore

        • Right, no-one is claiming that the USI could ever exist as a real and cohesive entity but the Islamists sure could use terror to unbalance the whole world and they would have control over most of the region's oil. There is no positive spin to this and a 14 minute video is not to blame either. This has been orchestrated.

          • Maybe Al Qaeda et al stirring the pot? But mostly, i just see a viral replay of what happened with the Danish cartoonists 6 years ago. Its magnified by us being a Greater Satan, and the fact that these countries have been taking on Internet at an increasing rate (especially mobile.. I am compelled to watch these numbers for both work and side-work). The film imagery probably strikes more grievously then the cartoons, as well

            However, the core issue is this ridiculous and violent sensitivity endemic to their faith. And, for some reason, Arabs especially have traditions which make embassies dangerous places. Killing the messenger or the ambassador is an ancient trick, apparently. They simply don't grok the mechanics of diplomacy. No other culture seems to violate the sanctity of ambassadorial mission with this frequency or magnitude. Through Islam, Arabs have transmitted this to their subjugated cultures. My high school friend at State has mentioned something about this before.. but i haven't seen a whiff of him on facebook since 8/31

          • I'm just not buying the video argument. This is terrorism. The mob is just a useful idiot. Muslims become aggrieved at the slightest provocation. The mob is always easily manipulated because it is mindless. This is becoming damn near global and it is being orchestrated by very committed jihadis or whatever. Like I said, just another phase of a thirty-year war.

          • The video's a tool, or a weapon. I completely agree that extremists and terrorists would use it to stir the mob. I would wager the speed with which such a video may spread virally is greater then the ability of a distributed, cellular network such as Al Qaeda to coordinate behavior on this scale. But they don't need to organize everything--they just fan the flames. And they whisper that the U.S. government is behind it, in collusion with Israel.

            The video's been weaponized. Discounting its utility in a war of information leaves a hole in the strategic picture. The trailer is portable mind control that spreads itself from one muslim brain to the next, using communication infrastructures perfected by the West.

            I've watched some of the trailer parts now.. It appears brilliantly crafted to offend some Muslim sensibilities, which we both agree are violently tetchy. They are pornographic and amateurish, and make Muhammed look like a complete oaf.. and gay, and philandering and hen-pecked. I don't even think I've seen the worst parts. If I were Al Qaeda, I would literally take over their production and crank them out.

            Now one thing i'm left wondering is: what effect, exactly, did the makers expect it to have on the muslim population? Especially knowing that this same kind of reaction occurred in 2005-06 over cartoons? I find myself imagining a Coptic Egypt, purged of all Islam, and I smile.. I'm not even remotely Christian, and the thought is pleasant. I like to be able to visit a country and not have to plan for violent extremism.

            I can't imagine some among the Copts don't dream of such a thing. And I know there are Christians here in the U.S. that simply want Holy War, through whatever proxy it takes. And we only need to look towards Israel to realize that an ancient people can be restored to power in their ancestral lands

          • FWIW, I caught a whiff he's (the guy they just arrested btw) a Coptic Christian but only once and it went away. It was early on and I didn't save it but I want to say it was from an interview with a guy on the left coast who'd worked with him on other projects.

          • "So, maybe this ridiculous trailer (there is no actual MOVIE, at least as far as anyone can tell), was made BY muslims, to start chaos." It certainly wasn't done by anyone who has any cinematography skills.

            I have even seen liberal fools claiming it was done by a conservative porn producer. Really?

          • Hmmmm. Always wondered if we'd reach the Singularity if a pizza deliveryperson delivered to the poolboy in a porno.

          • Kipling said the first rule of oriental diplomacy is: "You don't go to them. Make them come to you."

            It's all about power. The fact that we apologize for our society makes us weak in their mind. Giving them "aid" is seen as tribute. The simple fact is that our western way of seeing things, compounded by either an absolute idiot of a president or one who *wants* global war, doesn't mesh with their way of doing things.

            Yeah, the Streisand effect of the video makes it useful -- but we are playing "checkers" with people playing "grenade toss".

          • Most of them don't think we're weak. Pakistanis think we do nothing but take and take (despite our foreign aid and the income they receive for various logistical apparatus). Egyptians think that the U.S. has organized hundreds of Jews to fund this crap film. Other Egyptians think that Hillary Clinton orchestrated the election of Muslim Brotherhood and pelted her motorcade with tomatoes in July. They also chanted "Monica! Monica!" over and over. This kind of shit pisses me off..

            You guys see "HollyWeird", and they see a Zionist Industry churning out anti-Islamic propaganda. I seriously don't think many Americans have tried to gain true insight into the stupidity of some of these people. It is one thing to label them backward and stupid--it is another to actually see some of the positions and be all WTF....?

            o_O

            Their ignorance is staggering and sometimes stupidly violent. It will continue to be regardless of the words of Presidents. It will be like this regardless of who is elected next term. The only thing that will change is which group of partisans blames who, when generally we aren't terribly relevant at all.

            In reality, as I've harped on before: Muslims, with Arabs particularly, are grieving their lost glories. Boo hoo. And they can't put together that the West has secularized and advanced its civilization in ways that make it impossible for them to maintain their backwards cultures and yet compete. The Turks put a quash on this with their Empire for a few centuries--at least they shared a faith. But they were stopped cold at the gates of Vienna (i would love to visit that battlefield)

            Perhaps my views are overly long.. i like to think in centuries

          • True that they don't see us as weak as a nation. I'm more concerned with how they perceive our resolve. It's like when you're bargaining in a bazaar with someone -- if you hesitate or seem unsure and/or insecure, the vendor will go for blood deal-wise. It's only natural.

            When we allow that to happen, having them seize their opportunity is a forgone conclusion -- they would *love* to recoup their former glories, and a mind like that can't wrap itself around the fact that their mindset is the cause of, rather than a symptom of, their lack of world status.

            In a lot of ways, they remind me of the Armenians that I've dealt with financially. They can be some of the best people in the world, but they will cheat you right out of your underwear and think you're stupid if you show any sign of weakness.

            Personally, I can't believe that we are financing these people -- even if it is to reward certain behavior, it smacks of bribery. A business that did that would have their you-know-what in the wringer over it.

            There's a lot of places I'd love to visit -- especially if they'd let me bring a metal detector. I'm crazy about history, too. Have you ever read any Harold Lamb? Bison Press has a lot of his stories of that part of the world compiled into book form. Fascinating. Worth every single penny.

          • I think that what you are saying is NOW true, because the word has spread, but there is intel that shows that the "protests" were planned more than a MONTH ago, before the movie was even a "thing".

            I think I know where you might be going with this though. That maybe the amateurish, downright STUPID film was created with the express intent of creating chaos. But MAYBE it was not created by a Coptic Christian, but by a muslim? We KNOW that muslims are allowed to do anything (ANYTHING) if the end result is for the benefit of muhammed. Could that include mocking muhammed? Sure.

            So, maybe this ridiculous trailer (there is no actual MOVIE, at least as far as anyone can tell), was made BY muslims, to start chaos. They would have a much bigger vested interest in it. And it would explain how "the movie" came to be the immediate focus - even before the attacks in Libya started.

            By the way, there is word out there that the guy who was "promoting" this trailer is a former Fed informant. So, even if he is "supposedly" a Coptic, or whatever, who knows? We simply can not trust ANYONE in the Middle East. Seriously - I just read an article about how different their moral code is from almost every Western Culture. If we don't understand THAT, we have no chance!

  • Yes, however it must be remembered above all, that in the 3 years since . .. . um, uh . . .

    HEY CHENEY ONCE SHOT SOMEBODY IN THE FACE!

    • Yeah, I'm still pissed about that Cheney thing.
      It was a lawyer, and any TRUE sportsman would hunt down a wounded critter and finish it off.

      • Funny, most of the people who gave Cheney sh!t about that hunting accident kissed Ted Kennedy's fat ass forever & thought he should have monuments built in his name. Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached ofr comment.

        BTW, I would like to congratulate Senator Kennedy on being sober 1112 days now. Well done!

  • "Obama's Middle East policy is in ruins."

    That implies that Obama actually had a Middle East policy. Other than his hostility to Isreal, he has never had a coherent approach to the area

    Remember, this is all due to Islamophobia and, anyway, it's Bush's fault . If we would just keep our mouths shut and embrace sharia law everything would be fine.

    • It also implies that a world wide caliphate is not the goal of Obama's middle eastern policy. When it comes to the Democrats I tend to side with the "evil" as opposed to "stupid" attribution. Stupid is the domain of the GOP.

      • i have no concerns about Caliphate. Even if they could get their shit together, the territory itself is vulnerable to any credible sea or air power. The land is a fragmented smear drawn by horsemen taking down weakened powers. I only worry about their terrorists

  • I am not racist but I am bigoted when it comes to certain religions, most particularly--Islam. As far as I'm concerned it's the universal religion of SATAN and proves itself that every day! Sixteen years of terrorist desk intel and close proximity with marxist and fundamentalist muslims has kinda worn their welcome thin with me.

    • hisham:"it's the universal religion of SATAN"

      What does it tell you that they're the maddest right after they get done praying?

      "You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning" -John 8:44

    • I'm telling you, nobody argues with me when I tell that if islam disappeared today, about 85% of the world's violence in the world would disappear overnight. It is not compatible with the civilized world.

  • You need a bigger map, Drudge now reporting our flag being burned outside the embassy in Londinstan.

    It's hard to believe there are still those who believe the "moderate muslim" myth, but then some do still believe McCain is a republican.

  • A teleprompter should be sent to each of these embassies, facing Mecca and bent over in submission. Only then will the healing begin.

    • It was a clusterf**k to begin with, & included outright pandering from the start. That's what his Cairo speech was about.

      • Oh no, the world loves us now because Obama is our President!

        Do you hear those chants of "Death To America" coming from the Middle East? Of course not! They love us.

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