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Of course, it is ironic when the French and even Brits under Brown are more aggressive toward pre-emptive action than the US, which historically has had a policeman's role, and the WSJ's Bret Stephens notes that now French newspapers are asking him to comment on:
....the "return" of the neoconservatives. [Their] thesis seemed to be that the shambles of Barack Obama's foreign policy had, after only nine months, made what was thought to be the most discredited wing of an ostensibly brain-dead conservative movement relevant again. And France—no longer straining at the sight of Michelle Obama shopping in Paris's 6th arrondissement—is taking notice.
Any student of the French will know their unerring gout that sniffs out truffles of the NEXT BIG THING, which may well be the discrediting of Obama's foreign policy, already littered with clownish episodes like a mis-translated Russian word for "RESET" on Hillarious's gift of a big red button to her Russian counterpart. Or the bizarre fecklessness of yanking the missile shield out of Poland on the 70th anniversary of the Russian invasion [part of the Molotov/Ribbentrop Protocol] of eastern Poland? Here's the result:
As for Russia, its ambassador to the U.N. last week bellyached that the U.S. "continues to be a rather difficult negotiating partner"—and that was after Mr. Obama cancelled the missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. Thus does the politics of concession meet with the logic of contempt.
"Contempt" is what Russia, North Korea, and Iran have for Obama's overtures toward peace.
However, we are not allowed to see Obama's senior thesis at Columbia U. on US/Soviet disarmament written in 1985 because that jewel of scholarship has "disappeared" along with the financing records of all Obama's State Senate races in Illinois. Ah, the black hole of 1984, oops, the memory hole, has reappeared in America. As the Russians used to say during the days of Communism, "the future is assured, but it is the past which is uncertain." Or as President Sarkozy says with more eloquence and credibility than the homiletics that Obama preaches to gaping UNGA delegates:
"We are right to talk about the future," Mr. Sarkozy said, referring to the U.S. resolution on strengthening arms control treaties. "But the present comes before the future, and the present includes two major nuclear crises," i.e., Iran and North Korea. "We live in the real world, not in a virtual one." No prize for guessing into which world the Frenchman puts Mr. Obama.
"We say that we must reduce," he went on. "President Obama himself has said that he dreams of a world without nuclear weapons. Before our very eyes, two countries are doing exactly the opposite at this very moment. Since 2005, Iran has violated five Security Council Resolutions . . .
"I support America's 'extended hand.' But what have these proposals for dialogue produced for the international community? Nothing but more enriched uranium and more centrifuges. And last but not least, it has resulted in a statement by Iranian leaders calling for wiping off the map a Member of the United Nations. What are we to do? What conclusions are we to draw? At a certain moment hard facts will force us to make decisions."
Bravo, Monsieur Le President!
Finally, Stephens sums up the quandry facing Obama in his PUSSY-cat made of paper versus Three Nasty Dudes:
....the neocons are back because Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il and Vladimir Putin never went away. A star may have shone in the east the day Barack Obama became president. But these three kings, at least, have yet to proffer the usual gifts of gold and incense and myrrh. Instead, the presents have been of a different kind. North Korea claims to be in the final stages of building a uranium enrichment facility—its second route to an atomic bomb. Iran, again caught cheating on its Nonproliferation Treaty obligations, has responded by wagging a finger at the U.S. and firing a round of missiles. Syria continues to aid and abet jihadists operating in Iraq. NATO countries have generally refused to send more troops to Afghanistan, and are all the more reluctant to do so now that the administration is itself wavering on the war.
Wavering seems to be in Obama's DNA, as he said no investigation of CIA interrogation techniques before Holder changed [Obama's} "mind." Ditto for the Missile Shield, April-September between promise to retain and yanking of same. Now Obama's peace overtures and "extended hand" are met with a missile test yesterday, as Ahmedinejad realizes the paper Pussycat has no claws or doesn't really like to use them.
Hopefully, Obama starts talking more with Petraeus [despite Hillarious's low opinion of "Betray-Us" and his subordinate Gen. McChrystal] about options to actually confront an Iran which makes its intentions broadly known---the elimination of a fellow UN member. The time for basking and saying things like:
"I am well aware of the expectations that accompany my presidency around the world,"
because the true "reality-based community" of neo-cons is completely aware that words count for nothing in the face of implacable hostility from North Korea and Iran [although the Iranian "people," as opposed to their illegitimate government, love the USA]. Or in the case of Russia, a relentless remorseless drive to dominate its neighbors. Scoop Jackson's "hotel burglar" testing every door to find one unlocked.
Will it take a catastrophe to knock the scales off the eyes of the pussycat?
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