Events are moving quickly in the middle east and it should be apparent to everyone that it is time for strong leadership from the President of the United States. This could mean showing outward and material support for the present government, at least until there can be a peaceful transfer of power to another democratic form of government. But to do nothing would be a mistake.
It has been reported that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the rioting in the streets of Egypt, their aim is to topple the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic form of government. Already Tunisia has toppled, Yemen is teetering and Jordan is getting restive. The Mideast is a powder keg ready to explode.
The comparison is similar to events back in 1979, when inaction by Jimmy Carter opened the door for Ayatollah Khomeini to come into Iran and turn it into an Islamic terrorist state. Iran has been spreading mischief and mayhem throughout the world and is on the precipice of getting nuclear weapons. We are still paying for Carters foreign policy weakness in the face of earthshaking events.
They say a smart man learns from his mistakes, but a brilliant man learns from other peoples mistakes. Obama has the opportunity to be a smart man as well as a brilliant man and salvage this situation. Help the Egyptian people to help themselves. Don’t let this anarchy create another fundamentalist oppressive state.
The real way to defuse the potency of the middle east is to stop being addicted to their oil. Mr. Obama, take the chains off of our energy industry and let us become independent by using our own energy resources. We have enough coal, oil, natural gas & hydroelectric for all of our energy needs far into the future, our technology will make them clean. Enough with the windmills, they will never generate enough power to help us. Remember this truth: You can make windmills with steel but you can’t make steel with windmills. PS. How deep is that global warming out there in the east?
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.maloney | Feb 03, 2011, 12:23 PM EST
I don't understand why you think me a racist, seano. Hell I like muslims, I think everybody should own 4 or 5 of em.
seanomelbourne | Feb 02, 2011, 11:25 PM EST
You poor man Maloney twisting and turning the truth to mold it to your ethnically racist view.
Monsoonman | Feb 02, 2011, 09:36 PM EST
Well said Maloney...Not a peep out of the muslim whitehouse when the Iranian people called for help. The little noticed strong armed robbery of Lebanons govt. by radical islamists gets no mention...It's a shame.
maloney | Feb 02, 2011, 09:33 PM EST
Lebanon govt. falls, hamas takes over, obama doesn't say a word. Iran's people in the streets being killed by radical islamic govt. obama doesn't say a word. Egypt's people want to remove president friendly to America, obama tells him to take a hike. Obama will own the radical muslim islamic takeover of the middle east, ending up who knows where. All of them want Israel wiped off the face of the earth. The UN is a sham & the USA should leave & defund the UN. At the current rate Islam may take over the world but for one thing, America's Second Amendment.
seanomelbourne | Feb 02, 2011, 04:42 PM EST
Every country in the U.N. recognizes the 1967 borders and the Palestinians including HAMAS. Arafat had a handshake deal (in Washington)with the Israeli P.M. on these terms, when he returned to Israel he reneged on the deal.
maloney | Feb 01, 2011, 10:08 PM EST
The only state not talking peace is Israel! Seano, you should have told us long ago that you were in a parallel universe.
Monsoonman | Feb 01, 2011, 09:27 PM EST
Lad: I don't understand. The scenario was if Israel withdrew to its pre 1967 borders? What other issues/grievances do the pals have after that? Fried or extra crispy?
seanomelbourne | Feb 01, 2011, 07:32 PM EST
The only state not talking peace is Israel and would be forced to change its stance if the U.S. Israeli lobby did not interfere.
Monsoonman | Feb 01, 2011, 06:30 PM EST
It was an excerpt from a newspaper article Lad, just reporting the facts. Do you think it would satisfy Israels neighbors, if its borders were 1967 size? Do you think they would let Israel live in peace?
seanomelbourne | Feb 01, 2011, 06:03 PM EST
"the lone voice of sanity in the middle east"give me a break Mman.Obama went to Egypt last year and talked about democracy and now the people have responded. Visited Egypt (05)and found a repressive poverty ridden state with armored cars hidden in laneways near all major intersections and hotels.And as I've stated before the U.S. Will back any despot if it's in American interest.If this wave of democracy continues you will see a new order and Israel will have to concede to the 1967 borders.
Monsoonman | Feb 01, 2011, 12:33 PM EST
Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton: Is a "bullet in the back" the same thing as being "thrown under the bus"? From an Israeli newspaper: by Aviad Pohoryles in the daily Maariv entitled "A Bullet in the Back from Uncle Sam." It accused Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of pursuing a naive, smug, and insular diplomacy heedless of the risks. Who is advising them, he asked, "to fuel the mob raging in the streets of Egypt and to demand the head of the person who five minutes ago was the bold ally of the president ... an almost lone voice of sanity in a Middle East?"
Edinboron | Jan 31, 2011, 03:46 PM EST
Isn't this what Bush promised? Regime change and "democracy" in Iraq would create a domino effect throughout the Middle East. When it's Bush created chaos you are all for it. Now you are trying to blame Obama for what is gong on in Egypt! Carter refused to negotiate with terrorists. Behind his back Reagan and Bush were negotiating and making secret deals with the hostage takers in Iran and supporting the right wing death squads who were killing priests and nuns in Nicaragua and El Salvador.
chesapeake | Jan 31, 2011, 11:49 AM EST
He has been having Jimmy Carter moments for two years; and, so far, Jimmy has pulled ahead... something I thought could not happen. Susanna should stay off of the sauce - the pickling effect has obviously set in.
McNabb1966 | Jan 31, 2011, 11:15 AM EST
Whatever credibility susanna may have had just evaporated with her spirited but doomed attempt to rehabilitate one of the truly pathetic presidents of modern times. Unless weakness and malaise are benchmarks for greatness than it's hard to take such nonsense seriously.
susanna | Jan 31, 2011, 11:08 AM EST
Since Jimmy Carter was a GREAT President, we can only hope Obama has a JC moment! What America doesn't want are any Ronald Reagan(gads,his own son now says he had Alzheimers while he was in office) or George W Bush moments ("Mission Accomplished" - historians have already stated he will go down as the worst President in the history of the U.S.). Jimmy Carter was the greatest environmental Presidentthis country has ever had. He was the first to have solar panels in the White House and baffoon Reagan removed them. Not one drop of blood was shed in war when Carter was President. He promoted a visionary energy policy. He countered the Soviet military threat. And since he left office, he has persistently promoted the cause of peace around the world (can you say Nobel Peace Prize?). The landmark Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty he fashioned remains in force today. If it wasn't for a hostile press, a debate gaffe, a botched rescue mission in Iran, and illegal and traitorous secret negotiations by the Reagan election team with Iran - an over-rated B actor President (Reagan) who now had been exposed as having Alzheimers while in office, would never have been elected. I sure hope Obama is as good as Carter!
McNabb1966 | Jan 31, 2011, 11:02 AM EST
Every moment is a "Jimmy Carter moment" for Barack Obama.
hancock | Jan 31, 2011, 07:32 AM EST
Didn't our current idiot say all 57 states? An incompetent empty suit.
seanomelbourne | Jan 31, 2011, 07:07 AM EST
How do Fox get away with the morning show I have never seen such a bunch of cretins led by Steve "the poodle"Doocy Ailes little puppy. Spreading their ignorance of Egypt and Egyptian politics to a base audience.They interview their experts who probably believe the pyramid is a place in Nevada. How gullible do they think their audience is.
pflynn70 | Jan 30, 2011, 09:23 PM EST
For the life of me, I can't figure this president out. I knew from the onset that he was a flaming liberal and had no experience to this high office. One look at his resume can easily make this conclusion but can he leave his base and his closeness to the far right nuts must be driving him crazy, he wants to be re-elected, BUT he see's the middle of the roaders have deserted him, he just has the far left loons on his side. His eago is saying "become more like Reagan but his past tells him differently. If he chooses to turn "moderate" just think of all the promises he mad to get elected and did he deliver on any? zilch, nada, nothing. The Hope & change was just the Trojan Horse getting into the Castle. Another thing that bothers me, he is so high on his father, a man who deserted his mother, a mother who stood by him and he threw her under the bus in favor of his galavanting father who went all over having babies by other women, but he writes a book on his behalf, Dreams of my Father", He's a strange dude, maybe he's so damn smart that he's stupid?
peterson | Jan 30, 2011, 06:00 PM EST
At least I can think !! Obama can't with out a telepromter !!
Chico2001 | Jan 30, 2011, 03:39 PM EST
Who's talking about the previous president? It's always hilarious that when one side's incompetent leader gets in trouble, you have his people -- rather than defend him -- try to cast dispersions on their foes. All I know is, Obama and his party mocked Bush for saying Muslim nations deserved freedom. "What? Democracy for a bunch of dumb brown Arabs and such? No, no, no, you naive idiot! Why, those little subhumans just love having dictators stand on their throats. They don't want freedom. They're happy living in squalor and having their wives raped." As for arrogant, Obama sure is -- an arrogance born of ignorance. Heck, he probably doesn't even know where Egypt is. He bizarrely confused Iraq and Afghanistan just the other day. Go listen to him off teleprompter some time. He stutters and stammers like he's been hit in the head with a stick -- up until he can hit upon some line he's memorized. This is not the change I voted for, that's for sure. I'm incredibly disappointed -- and all the looking backwards in the world to make comparisons isn't going to change that. Hell, this guy was supposed to be the OPPOSITE of Bush, right, and now pepole are saying, "Well, sure he's arrogant, but so was Bush?" Same Gitmo, same Secretary of Defense, same wars, same domestic spying? Ugh!
McNamara31 | Jan 30, 2011, 02:48 PM EST
haasny007 Great post. Love to see facts and political clarity. And for the post below who describes Obama as "arrogant" (all in caps too!) What would they call the prior administration who blew through a surplus and went on to bring this country to its financial knees and our 401K's and college funds with it?
DennisQ | Jan 30, 2011, 02:33 PM EST
I've been unsuccessfully predicting the demise of the Republican Party for at least a decade. I didn't think George Bush would be elected, much less re-elected. So it's not unusual for me to predict that they will self-destruct before the 2012 election.
Republican success in the 2010 election came about because their backs were to the wall. They won't have that do-or-die motivation in the next election. In fact they won't have much motivation at all, if they have to rally behind the likes of Mike Pence or Mitt Romney. Their strongest candidate won't stand a chance against Obama.
They won't have a track record to run on either. Their majority in the House of Representatives means that they will introduce doomed legislation such as the repeal of the health care reform act that the last Congress passed. If John Boehner decides to make a go of it as Speaker, the Democrats have enough dirt on him to destroy him.
Look instead for a Democratic resurgence between now and 2012, especially if the long-moribund economy shows signs of life.
kevinhayes | Jan 30, 2011, 02:09 PM EST
Al Jazeera is doing the best job by far on reporting on Egypt - that's why Mubarak is trying to shut them down there. And Pox News (not!) has Mike Huckabee, that well known Arabist - give me a break. Next thing they'll have the half governor ( "I can see Russia") pronouncing on the Middle East - or is that a step too far even for Roger Ailes? You can increasingly see that the brighter Faux News people are uncomfortable interviewing the KnowNothing It's obvious that the Muslim Brotherhood is a bystander, not that that won't change in a revolution like this.
haasny007 | Jan 30, 2011, 12:17 PM EST
First of all, provided the economy does not deteriorate between now and 11/2012, Obama will be comfortably reelected by a slightly lower margin than in 2008. The unrest in Northern Africa is a mere blip that will not affect American politics. Secondly, the Republican clowns who are lining up to run against Obama are Fox News employees for the most part and have nothing to offer other than far-right extremist proposals. It is becoming increasingly clear that not only are they ignorant about American history (Michelle Bachmann: "John Quincy Adams and the other founding fathers were working tirelessly on abolishing slavery....") but they have also no clue about economic policy. Paul Ryan named Ireland and the UK as examples of budget deficits run amok causing an economic crisis in the two countries. The truth is that Ireland ran budget surpluses prior to the financial crisis and what brought that country down was largely unregulated banks who made bad investment choices. This fact does not suit at all the Republican ideology of "as little regulation as possible". Thirdly, Democrats will make sure and be successful in letting the electorate know who got us into this mess in the first place and that in reality, the Republican party represents the wealthy, the privileged, the well-connected and has been fighting a relentless war on the middle class, those who work hard to make ends meet and putting their kids through school, while consistently fighting tooth and nail to give tax breaks to the millionaires.
PhlutiePhan | Jan 30, 2011, 12:15 PM EST
You have to understand that something else is going on here. Margaret Scobey "do" is the ambassador. I believe that you have to "look under her bed" for a "smoking gun". Obama is a "global socialist" and is "very sympathetic" to Muslim interests. "All cards are on the table". You have to suspect everything.
jdi2269 | Jan 30, 2011, 12:04 PM EST
ONE OF THE MANY WAYS OBAMA IS INEPT IS HIS ARROGANCE THAT HE KNOWS BETTER THAN ANYONE. HE WILL NOT LISTEN TO REASON ONCE HE HAS TAKEN A STAND. CARTER WASN'T VERY SMART, BUT OBAMA'S ARROGANCE IS MUCH MORE DANGEROUS TO THE UBITED STATES!
REMITROMJR | Jan 30, 2011, 11:48 AM EST
Obama will certainly have a "Jimmy Carter moment". That will take place on January 20, 2013 when he finally walks down the White House stairs as the ex-President having been defeated by a conservative Republican in a landslide!
DennisQ | Jan 30, 2011, 04:57 AM EST
Although the collapse happened on his watch, Carter didn't lose Iran. As seanomelbourne points out, the seeds were planted in 1953 with the overthrow of Mossadeq. If you need to blame an American president, you can start with Eisenhower.
American foreign policy should be based on America's interests, isn't it obvious? To regain influence in the Middle East, we need to reclaim our status as an honest broker. Do Arabs have any reason at all to trust the United States? They do not.
The invasion of Iraq was a blunder. Not only did it promote Iran's dominance in the region, we are also seeing a generation of young Muslims coming to power that are either hostile or indifferent to American interests.
Instead of choosing between two undesirable outcomes, we've ended up stuck with both of them at the same time. We'll have to start by regaining our neutrality, and build from there. It won't be easy, but let's acknowledge how we got here - by overplaying a hand that turned out to be weaker than we'd surmised. Let's start by reforming the CIA, which has become a rogue agency. As things stand, they are more of a liability than an asset.
Monsoonman | Jan 29, 2011, 09:45 PM EST
So what's your solution lad? Devil? Or the deep blue sea?...Since you're an atheist that should be easy. So support a repressive murderous islamo state with nukes? Or a repressive semi democracy? You get a choice of bad and not so bad...I'll take the not so bad meself.
seanomelbourne | Jan 29, 2011, 09:34 PM EST
The U.S. supports fascist states when it suits their agenda.Dictators like Mubarak have been propped up by the U.S. for decades,giving them gas canisters and other means to suppress democratic change. Mman your Fox soundbites are boring.
Monsoonman | Jan 29, 2011, 08:27 PM EST
Lets be blunt Dennis. Does the world need another islamo fascist terrorist state like Iran? Obama had the opportunity to show support to the Iranian people several months ago when they were out in the streets trying to overturn their oppressors. Obama did nothing. He will do nothing as Egypt slips into the hands of the jihadists.
DennisQ | Jan 29, 2011, 02:14 PM EST
If the demonstrat5ions in Cairo were happening in Tehran, Ed Farnan wouldn't hesitate to call them pro-democracy. Right wingers give Mubarak the benefit of the doubt because he's an important ally.
However, there's really not much doubt about what's going on. Egyptians are tired of Mubarak - he's been in power too long, and he's made too many questionable deals with America. Arabs are embarrassed by the coziness between Egypt and Israel, especially in the aftermath of the attack on the aid flotilla that resulted in the deaths of civilians.
Even if Mubarak survives this challenge, he will certainly be weakened by the crackdown on dissent which will surely follow. Opposition leaders will be arrested and probably tortured in aEgypt's notorious secret prisons - where Bush used to send America's fractous detainees. This won't build support for Mubarak's government; in fact it may embolden opponents to denounce him as a traitor.
McNamara31 | Jan 29, 2011, 10:17 AM EST
Big Oil and big business have kept this country addicted to oil for their own massive profits and that of their shareholders. Look how long it took to create a market for fuel efficient cars? We now also have to deal with oil speculators on Wall St that drive up the price on speculation rather than true demand. Why do Americans want to stay victim to greed or speculation or uncertainty in the Middle East? We must create a hard and fast energy program that will stay in place no matter what change occurs in party or president if we are ever to be successful. This victim "thinking" that keeps us addicted to fossil fuels is as prehistoric as the fuel.
Towngate | Jan 29, 2011, 09:31 AM EST
The Fireworks will really start when Opec decides to sell oil in Euro only,instead of the 'Petrodollars'.(as the other US puppet Saddam planned to do!)
seanomelbourne | Jan 29, 2011, 05:01 AM EST
Mr. Farnan's lacks credibility he seems to forget that the CIA toppled the democratically elected government of Iran and supplanted it with a despot (Shah Pahlavi).But the U.S. didn't care ,after all he was their despot.How the chicken comes home to roost.$3billion in military aid to prop up another despot dropping "made in the U.S.A." tear gas canisters on their people. I wonder if they are from the same batch that they gave to Israel to gas Palestinian children or maybe canisters sold to Iran all those years ago to lob on the Iraqis.
maloney | Jan 28, 2011, 10:23 PM EST
Al Jazeera is fueling & fanning the flames. Mathews of MSNBC interviews Al Jazeera today as if they were long lost brothers.