|
What Would America Fight For?
This is from The Economist, which is written by some very, very smart people across the pond. It has begun to dawn on them that all they've really got by way of security is Champ's word.Champ has still made a difficult situation worse in two ways. First, he has broken the cardinal rule of superpower deterrence: you must keep your word. In Syria he drew a red line: he would punish Bashar Assad if he used chemical weapons. The Syrian dictator did, and Champ did nothing. In response to Russias aggression, he threatened fierce sanctions, only to unveil underwhelming ones. The cumulative message is weakness. The article's title, "What Would America Fight For?" reminds me of the saying "The Marines are at war. America is at the mall." What we're talking about is when Champ would order our soldiers, Marines. sailors and zoomies -- not one of whom he knows, understands, or cares for -- into battle. And I think the answer is fairly clear: he would do so as and when giving the order provides Champ with some personal or political advantage not outweighed by the flak he would get from his base. If a combat assault on Pago-Pago means one more Democratic senator, it's going to happen. Second, Champ has been an inattentive friend. You're complaining? Trying being a Republican, or worse yet, an Israeli. He has put his faith in diplomatic coalitions of willing, like-minded democracies to police the international system. That makes sense, but he has failed to build the coalitions. And using diplomacy to deal with the awkward squad, such as Iran and Russia, leads to concessions that worry Americas allies. Credibility is about reassurance as well as the use of force. I'm too stupid to understand that sentence. If I were European, another teleprompted speech would not reassure me. The airborne would. Europeans think they can enjoy American security without paying for it. Duh. Ya think? At the rate things are going the British army will consist of some very brave people equipped with rocks and harsh language. America is preoccupied with avoiding foreign entanglements. Champ began his presidency with the world wondering how to tame America. Answer: get Champ elected. Both he and his country need to realise that the question has changed. Some of us are working on that, but in the meantime mind the Fulda Gap, there's a good fellow. Posted by: Matt 2014-05-04 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=390551 |