A Puddle of Oil

[Daveparts]

In an administration becoming famous for its foreign policy failures there is no brighter star than Condoleezza Calamity Jane Rice. Disappearing for weeks on end only to pop up toting the administrations water. Calamity Jane has done for the State Department’s reputation what Brownie did for FEMA. This time she takes her Middle East show on the road with, Iran’s the Boogey man tour 07 with defense Secretary Robert Gates as the opening act.

Ticket sales as expected have been slow so the administration has fallen back on its standard gimmick, “If you do what we want we will give you things that make noise.”
Nothing warms an unelected despot heart more than free weapons. So they come and listen patiently to the whole time-share pitch but wait anxiously for their goodies. And as you might expect, it’s never as good as it’s advertised in the brochure is it?

Surprise! The Arabs have won second prize yet again, the lions share of $40 billion goes to Israel. While Egypt gets a slight bump in their weapons stipend the Saudi’s will scratch along with an insultingly paltry $10 billion. Almost an insult to one of the richest nations on the planet to think their cooperation could be bought with a few shiny jet planes.

But you have to try and understand the mindset of an administration that believes you start negotiation by loading your gun. “We discussed how to support a unified Iraq where all Iraqis can live in peace and security,” (meaning under our thumb) Rice told journalists after the meeting that included top diplomats from GCC states Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

With some states accused of allowing Sunni militants into Iraq to fight US forces and Iran accused of equipping Iraqi Shiite militias doing the same, the parties called in a joint statement for “an end to all interference in Iraq.” The statement called for the prevention of “the transit of terrorists to Iraq” and an end to the “supply of arms and training to the militia and extra-governmental groups” in the war-torn country.

Rice warned that if unnamed “determined enemies” were successful “then this whole region is going to be chaotic,”

It boggles the mind how one person supposedly so well educated could make a statement so ignorant and arrogant all at the same time. “An end to all interference in Iraq.” It makes you wonder how many of these Gulf State potentates were thinking to themselves, this is why we don’t allow women in our governments. The ridiculous notion of unnamed foreigners trying to destabilize Iraq when it’s the United States that has been the most destabilizing force in the Middle East. We created a quagmire and then have the nerve to point fingers at others saying in effect to knock it off.

But more than just a Santa Claus road tour the administration is trying to build a fire break around it’s debacle in Iraq and the only answer they can think of is to supply more weapons to the region. Just how stupid can they be? It is an unknown quantity every time you think they couldn’t be any dumber they surprise you.

To believe that giving the Saudi’s advance fighters will somehow hinder Iran or protect the indolent kingdom of Saud? Let’s take a look at the CIA fact book shall we, Iran has 18 million men of military age with a 15% unemployment rate and 40% living under the poverty level so a job in the military is a good job. In contrast Saudi Arabia has 6 million men of military age with 0% living under the poverty level and no military conscription.

The Iranians fought a protracted ten year war with Iraq developing a battle tested military command structure while the Saudi’s did some ride along’s in the first gulf war. The advanced aircraft will do little to protect the Saudi’s because they wouldn’t dare attack Iran first and Iran has no desire to strike the Saudi’s. But the administrations cynical plan is to surround Iran with well armed neighbors much like Barney Fife deputized and passed out guns to Floyd, Goober and Otis to surround Mayberry’s bad guy.

You could develop a better foreign policy by throwing darts at a wall. The single-minded empty headed policy of pursuing the domination of Iraq expands ever outward and dwarfs the Middle East troubles of just six years ago. We look back lovingly at such a peaceful times now.

Iraq is in flames, Pakistan is in trouble, the fighter aircraft we gave them being of little use against public dissent. Turkish and Pakistani troops are shelling Kurdish positions across the Iraq border. Hamas in Lebanon having blunted Israeli plans have moved Lebanon from the moderate camp into the unstable camp. The administration’s Palestinian policy has blown up in their face while in Afghanistan the corrupt quisling government talks of negotiating with the Taliban while NATO troops die in a senseless enterprise. Do I exaggerate?

And yet the administration's policy is to simply apply more guns and money like the supply is unlimited. Lighting matches trying to find their way out of the powder magazine while Congress whispers softly, stop.

The failure of the current American foreign policy is the second largest failure in American history and it might yet cause a region wide cataclysmic war. The foolishness of the policy is obvious to the entire world, nothing but obstinance and stubbornness like a spoiled child in a toy store. One loose spark or unattended flame would ignite the region spreading out like a puddle of oil not seen since the murder of Archduke Ferdinand

But the responsibility for that failure will rest with the Congress that had it in their power to stop it before it started. History will hold them accountable and ignore their partisan excuses for folly and failure. The stupidity of juggling hand grenades while riding a unicycle trying to appease the corporate in crowd coupled the arrogance of believing they could hold back a determined pit bull with a spaghetti noodle. They will be remembered as America’s greatest failure for failing to act as the last bulwark of sanity, all because they didn’t want their party of self-interest to end.