Barack Obama’s Wild Search for Any Legacy

 

President Barack Obama entered office with even a great number of Europeans having sky high hopes for his future. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize largely due to his soaring rhetoric describing his desires and designs for a world blanketed in peace rather than strife, free of nuclear weapons rather than bristling with them, shared bounty benefitting all replacing areas torn by hunger and want, and his fresh message promising hope replacing despair. There appeared to be other areas of the world which also caught Obamaitis, a feeling of great hope due to dulcet tones of rhythmic rhymes and rhetoric promising the end of deprivation and the opening for all a grand cornucopia providing great giving filling the world with divine satisfactions and serenity, comforts and calm, lullabies and love. The world had to be at the leading edge of the Age of Aquarius.

 

 

This expectation of greatness and having found the leader for the new century who would wipe away all the old and stodgy ideas which presumably underlined the policies and failings of his predecessor, George W. Bush led to the reelection as if the expectations which had begun to fade could be brought to fulfillment if just the people would show their support and promise to stay the course with full support and continued adulation. Americans, as a whole, virtually all hoped that President Obama would be the President that all America could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with and repair the real problems facing the nation. Even, or possibly because of, many who initially feared that Obama would rule as what they perceived as an extreme leftist progressive anti-American still grabbed on to this prayer, this hope. I know as I was one such who had predicted that President Obama would be a President Jimmy Carter on steroids. I was wrong as I missed the part which would rival President Lyndon Baines Johnson with the steamrolling over all opposition; Constitution be damned. So now we sit in the closing months of a wounded Presidency which failed in even its own measuring stick. Gone beyond repair is Cap and Trade, Carbon Credits, the end of coal for energy, fracking continues, livable wage remains a dream, government run healthcare is in a shambles and the final crash is still ahead, universal nuclear disarmament is dead with the promise of proliferation like never before is about to spread these weapons across the most unstable Middle East and into North Africa (MENA) and, worst of all, there are numerous more wars with entire nations in various stages of disintegration as in Libya, Syria, Yemen and the Ukraine and the world seems closer than ever to the Eve of Destruction.

 

 

Musical interludes aside, the world is far more violent with more conflict and more nations in a state of complete anarchy where the governance has either disintegrated or no longer cares or represents the population. The continued anarchy and destruction in Syria and Libya can be indirectly or even directly attributed to actions or lack thereof by the United States under the directions of President Obama and largely the State Department. There have been reports online and in the mainstream media of recommendations made by the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff being ignored and even directly countermanded by the White House. Examples of such advice being completely ignored which led directly to many of today’s problems include pulling almost every American military force after refusing to provide a new set of terms and protections for the troops as President Obama refused to permit the Pentagon to work with the Iraqi government leaving the State Department to negotiate which was postponed until a mere ten weeks before the then existing agreement lapsed. Then there was the shifting, sliding and finally fading to nothing Red Line in the Sand to bring destruction down on Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad if he unleashed chemical weapons. The final example we will give was the entire concept of leading from behind which directly led to the decapitation of Libyan governance without providing even a modicum of force in place providing time to form new governance resulting in tribal internal warfare tearing the nation apart.

 

Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Pentagon

 

To the present we are witnessing a change and President Obama taking the lead very quietly while attempting to force what his passivity failed to accomplish. We have witnessed stronger language targeting Russian President Putin while arming rebels more directly, though which rebels has been kept somewhat vague. Some reports claim they are al-Nusra and others who were once claiming allegiance to al-Qaeda but have since renounced any allegiances. Some unofficial sources not aligned with the State Department or Pentagon has shown alliances with some of these rebels with the Islamic State. Even more troubling has been the unprincipled support using American air power of Turkey President Erdogan bombing the one group which deserved the greatest support, the Kurdish Militias (Peshmerga پێشمەرگە), who have been the most successful against the Islamic State all the way back to their initial ISIS or ISIL stage and the main force rescuing the Yazidi while the world governments sat silent feigning helplessness with one exception which has provided light weapons, anti-tank weapons and special forces to train Kurdish fighters, a nation which must remain unnamed. President Obama has made the known fallacious claim that Turkey is fighting the Islamic State when the reality is they are attempting to wipe out the Kurdish forces and people in a genocidal war and assisting the Islamic State which has recovered Aleppo from Kurdish control. These anti-Kurdish efforts are pushing some Kurds to seek protection with Islamist forces they once fought against. Talk of turning friends into enemies, what a great strategy.

 

President Obama still claims his brilliant nuclear treaty with Iran, which even the French had to be beaten into submission after initially vetoing the agreement, prevents Iran from attaining nuclear weapons. The statement can only be made valid if one adds, “while I am President,” onto the end. Even the White House had admitted that Iran will be fully nuclear capable and free of any restrictions after just over a decade from now. Then we have the most recent evidence of the hard-line being taken in response to a pair of missiles fired from Yemen originating in the area held by Iranian backed Houthis Rebels. The American Naval forces were freed to respond in kind. Further the United States Navy was ordered to cross into the expanded regions now claimed by China after they built a number of new islands placing military assets including artillery and anti-ship missiles in an effort to control an important Asian trade route. This new and unprecedented stance by President Obama has come with minimal if any inclusion of the Pentagon or Joint Chiefs of Staff other than to relay the orders and is being executed in order to shore up support for Democrat candidates in the coming elections. This also permits Hillary Clinton to imply that she may have had a hand in this new direction by the White House to accommodate her stronger stance in foreign policy. It is all a feint to make her appear to separate from the lead from behind strategy when in reality she will not lead at all with one exception which is worthy of discussion before closing this article.

 

A President Hillary Clinton will continue to bow to Iranian hegemonic plans in the MENA region and continue to snub Egypt, Israel, Jordan and other allies unless they curry favor as was the way to play when she was Secretary of State with higher entry fees as she is now the President. Further, she will allow China to extend their hegemonic desires throughout the western Pacific Ocean and into the Indian Ocean. This will revive an ancient animosity between China and India, an India which is likely to surpass China as the most populous nation within a decade or two. Hillary Clinton will further aid the influx of Islamic immigrants all but unvetted into Europe, mostly western Europe, while also increasing the rate for accepting immigrants from across MENA and including the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Islamic nations except Iran, they need to remain strong with a large and capable military with secret side deals done without Congressional oversight or knowledge when possible. There is one place where Hillary Clinton will not only stand strong but will seek new venues to pressure, Putin and Russia. For reasons known only to the least sane amongst us, there has been an undertone softly growing demanding that Russian President Putin be brought low and to bend and surrender to the “equality of women” and raise the position of Russian women to their “rightful place” in Russian society. This is partly the demand for a “No Fly Zone” in Syria as this would soon lead to a direct confrontation. Do not doubt that any Russian fighter caught entering such a zone, even after dropping their ordinance and simply transgressing on way back to base, they would be intercepted and very likely fired upon or, even worse, shot from the sky using missiles pressing the Russians to respond. Even if Putin would take such a situation and apologize, explain and request for unarmed aircraft, after dropping ordinance, for Russian pilots to use the “safe zone” for returning to base, the request would be refused bluntly and with no regard for any damage as such would be intentional. What is the end desired? We wish we knew!

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Turkey Tanks Attacking Kurds, not Islamic State so Much

 

Turkey announced that their armor supported troops rolling southward into Syria with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claiming they are there to confront Islamic State and Syrian Kurdish rebels. This appears to be somewhat absurd to use the problems caused by the Islamic State in order to destroy as much of the Kurdish forces before retreating back north of the border claiming whatever excuse necessary to excuse their not confronting Islamic State. This is a mission to weaken the Kurdish Militias, Peshmerga, in order to make the Kurdish vulnerable to the al-Nusra Front, Islamic State and whatever other Arab forces are able to take advantage of the Turkish weakening and degrading of the Kurdish ability to defend themselves. This attack by Turkish forces is all about Erdogan’s detestable hostility towards the Kurds and has no footing in reality and is fully due to the visceral desire to destroy the Kurds from spite. The Kurdish forces in Syria have always been fixated facing southward in order to face threats from al-Nusra, al-Qaeda aligned terrorists, Alawite forces of the Syrian Military, and, of course, against Islamic State (formerly ISIS or ISIL). At no time have the Kurdish Militias in Syria taken any hostile steps against Turkey and have little if any connection with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê ‎) which the Turkish government has labeled as a terrorist group.

 

This has more to do with the success of the Kurds in the first of the last two elections where they forced Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) to not have an outright majority and thus require making a coalition with another similar Islamic Party. Erdogan took the alternative solution of preventing any coalition from forming thus forcing another election. Between the elections mysteriously numerous Kurdish leading officials and some Kurdish and other minor party candidates met untimely and mysterious ends. The ensuing second election proceeded in giving the AKP a clean majority. After there being no government or other investigations into the mysterious deaths and other strange events, there soon was an entirely different set of investigations to carry out. There was a coup in Turkey presumable brought about by a mysterious Imam who once was allied with Erdogan but they fell out as Erdogan gained in strength and no longer needed his former “friend” and political ally. Now this former ally, Imam Muhammd Fethullah Gulen, could pose a threat to Erdogan despite residing outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in the twilight of life and became the next great threat. President Erdogan is cementing his power so as to become President for Life, thus the Gulen coup which came apart almost before it got started. There were numerous reports of “Gulen coup allied pilots attaining missile lock of the aircraft carrying Erdogan and having this lock for over five minutes and never firing a single missile or other armament at the aircraft. What coup worth its salt does not shoot down the reigning President’s aircraft when given the opportunity? We’ll tell you; the kind of coup which is engineered and executed by the reigning President who is feeling particularly vulnerable after not winning an overwhelming victory in an election and having to resort to back room politics to win the forced second election balloting. He used goon squads to assure his win in the second election while also intimidating the Kurdish population severely diminishing their numbers voting in the second elections. Then he had a coup and within twenty-four hours of putting down the coup there were more than six-thousands of judges, prosecutors, lawyers and other legal professionals arrested and another six-thousand military personnel arrested and a predicted additional many thousands still on lists to be arrested and an equal number to be placed under investigation. Now there is an armor supported assault into Syria to vanquish the ability of the Kurds in Syria to defend their people leaving them vulnerable to the Islamic State. Meanwhile there will not likely be much, if any, assault by these Turkish forces against the Islamic State as was promised as the main reason for the crossing into Syria. This is highly unlikely as the Turkish forces could very well have their hands full just engaging the Kurdish Militias.

 

Turkish Tank Rolling Into North-Eastern Syria

 

Much of the reason for this attack and numerous other nasty little surprises coming between now and the middle of January of next year is because President Obama’s terms in office are coming to a close and the United States may become a greater presence in the world after the election no matter who wins. Erdogan knows he will be losing his BFF (best friend forever) in the White House and gaining either an unpredictable crazy person who might send troops against you if you upset them on a bad hair day or Donald Trump as the next President. Either way, crazy hair Donald or crazier hair Hillary, you will be looking at somebody far more willing to use the United States military power than you have with President Obama. We have all heard endless tales of how unpredictable and erratic Donald Trump can be but the truth is Hillary Clinton is far more vindictive, ask any of the women who played with Bill and then told, and who has a long list of corpses showing up in her past, think Ft. Marcy Park and the Vince Foster enigma in a puzzle wrapped in lies which the police still have no clue or Ron Brown and air crash anomalies. Donald Trump does not have a trail of dead realestate developers left behind him in a train of tears as does Hillary with political problem people or just problem people. Then there are the select names Hillary has called those who fell short of delivering on campaigns such as reported in the Guardian that she called Paul Fray, her husband’s campaign manager at the time, a… well, we’ll let you look this one up if you are unfamiliar with it. Just for added information, the man was not and is not, to the best of our knowledge, Jewish. So much for even tempered and if given a choice on who has the “football” following them everywhere with the codes to launch sufficient nuclear weapons to end the planet as we know it, I would much have a jolly crazy person who jokes about the size of their “hands” than a vindictive person who cannot even control their tongue, let alone who knows what else.

 

Along the line of the mice playing while the cat is away, or simply asleep at the switch, China is building a naval base in Djibouti fairly close to the major United States post in Africa and is considering more such military ports placed at focal points around the globe. China has even stated in their budgeting that they hope to become a naval force who rules the waves, or at least the commercial shipping lanes. Their claim is this base has been established to fight the piracy in this area and should they succeed in this endeavor as announced, they will receive many thanks from nations around the world who have used the Suez Canal and faced the pirate menace in these waters. We also have the Chinese Island building into the South China Sea and Russia expanding their naval docking abilities in the Mediterranean Sea and using a military airfield in Iran to cover the Middle East under the pretense of fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The world could look even stranger and the United States will now face facts on the ground around the globe with adversarial forces and nations who will have taken full advantage of a President asleep at the controls while spending time attempting to cripple adversaries at home, even some in his own party. The problem is the United States will not suffer alone from the adversarial role played by President Obama against the United States historic alliances and capabilities leaving a world vulnerable without any real guidance. At the end of World War II the United States all but neutered the militaries of the allied powers as if their militaries were the reason for the war and promised they would protect Europe from all threats. Well, that appears to have come to an end and it will be interesting no matter who wins the coming elections as both have stated they are want to use American military force unless there is a driving threat which must be met. The definition of such a threat is different between Hillary and Donald but that can wait until closer to the election when people might actually care. Suffice it to say that one of them is not traditional American force projection in their thinking.

 

Beyond the Cusp