Young Americans for Liberty

During the election, no one drunk on the Obama cool-aid would have thought that he was the potential candidate who, if elected, would lead the US to war with Iran. However, every day that passes, a bit more of President Obama’s “peace candidate” shell is chipping off, and the real man who is at the head of our armed forces is coming more and more to light.

In a recent interview with Newsweek, Obama speaks about the possibility of confrontation with Iran. In response to a question about Iran and Israel, the president said:

I’ve been very clear that I don’t take any options off the table with respect to Iran…What I have said is that we want to offer Iran an opportunity to align itself with international norms and international rules. I think…that will be better for the Iranian people. I think that there is the ability of an Islamic Republic of Iran to maintain its Islamic character while, at the same time, being a member in good standing of the international community and not a threat to its neighbors. And we are going to reach out to them and try to shift off of a pattern over the last 30 years that hasn’t produced results in the region.

Now, will it work? We don’t know. And I assure you, I’m not naive about the difficulties of a process like this. If it doesn’t work, the fact that we have tried will strengthen our position in mobilizing the international community, and Iran will have isolated itself, as opposed to a perception that it seeks to advance that somehow it’s being victimized by a U.S. government that doesn’t respect Iran’s sovereignty.

President Obama, you can’t extend one hand to a country, inviting it to align itself with the international community, and with the other hand have a knife ready to plunge into its throat. What country on earth would respond positively to such talk? Essentially, the US is saying “We’re giving you a chance to show that you are not dangerous, and if you will not show us that you are not dangerous, then we will oh so unfortunately be forced to invade you.” Sound familiar?

Just after this, the Newsweek interviewer asked Obama whether he would discourage Israel from taking unilateral action against Iran. This was Obama’s response:

No, look, I understand very clearly that Israel considers Iran an existential threat, and given some of the statements that have been made by President Ahmadinejad, you can understand why. So their calculation of costs and benefits are going to be more acute. They’re right there in range and I don’t think it’s my place to determine for the Israelis what their security needs are.

In other words - “Israel, it’s open season.”

The best part of the whole interview? Right after Obama made these statements - whose implications are enormous - here is the newsweek interviewer’s next question:

Were you surprised at how quickly your family became part of the cultural iconography?

There you have it folks. The investigative American media.

It’s enough to literally make me sick to my stomach.

engsem6 Uncategorized Barack Obama, Iran, Israel, Newsweek

Not many people have read a certain essay entitled “Renewing American Leadership” written by then-Senator Barack Obama in 2007. However, understanding his views on the use and function of the military may help give us insight into why the “peace candidate” is okay with killing dozens of civilians in air raids in order to kill a few suspected terrorists and has shown no intention of lessening our military presence in the Middle East.

Here are a few excerts from the 2007 essay. He writes:

…Our starting point must always be a clear and strong commitment to the security of Israel, our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy. That commitment is all the more important as we contend with growing threats in the region — a strengthened Iran, a chaotic Iraq, the resurgence of al Qaeda, the reinvigoration of Hamas and Hezbollah…

…A strong military is, more than anything, necessary to sustain peace…We must use this moment both to rebuild our military and to prepare it for the missions of the future. We must retain the capacity to swiftly defeat any conventional threat to our country and our vital interests. But we must also become better prepared to put boots on the ground in order to take on foes that fight asymmetrical and highly adaptive campaigns on a global scale…

…We should expand our ground forces by adding 65,000 soldiers to the army and 27,000 marines…

And here is the kicker:

We must also consider using military force in circumstances beyond self-defense in order to provide for the common security that underpins global stability — to support friends, participate in stability and reconstruction operations, or confront mass atrocities. But when we do use force in situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to garner the clear support and participation of others — as President George H. W. Bush did when we led the effort to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in 1991.

I would invite President Obama to consider that it is the very use of force in such situations that is the threat to global stability. But that’s a whole new conversation. Read the entirety of the essay, which goes into several topics not here discussed, here.

engsem6 Empire, Uncategorized Barack Obama, peace, war