The American Window Is Closed

It seems like everyone is disappointed in the U.S. and no one is more disappointed than us — Israel. Ever since the strong winds of revolution touched down in the Arab world, the question “Where is America?” has become the centerpiece of many newspaper columns. How can it be that Mubarak falls, Saudi Arabia is unstable and Washington does nothing? Where is George W. Bush — the man who fought two wars lasting longer than World War II — when we need him?

In addition to this feeling of disappointment is the added dimension of concern which is only publicly displayed in blogs and posts: the suspicion over Barack Hussein Obama. It is no wonder that websites and those who surf the Internet are very active participants in spreading rumors about Obama’s origin and the legality of his election as president. It seems that all of our worries magnified by the president’s very name are coming true.

What exactly are the Americans supposed to do? Are they supposed to just drop forces into Tahrir Square? Should they repeat Operation “Shock and Awe” but against the Shiite demonstrators in Bahrain? Perhaps they should send in the CIA to overthrow the governments as was done to Mosaddeq in Iran or to fight the revolutionaries in Central America? Those who hold similar sentiments are no different than the leftists who have been wishing from time immemorial that America take firm action and force Israel from the Territories.

It seems that here in Israel, more so than in the rest of the world, it has been difficult to grasp the idea that not only has the Cold War come to a close but that America as the only global policing nation has ceased as well. It is difficult to understand how Obama took over the reins of a superpower whose economy is weak (the result of unrestrained waste during Bush’s time in office) and its forces stretched to their limits and not budging at all. In essence, America no longer has the convenience to do as it pleases.

The Landlord of Old

There is no coincidence that America’s president, in dealing with Libya, was led but did not lead, “allowed” but didn’t initiate. Who understands the damage done to the United States by his predecessor, due to his government’s lack of restraint and justification of its actions, better than Obama? In 1990, at a time when the Soviet Union was collapsing, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney (later Bush’s Vice President) initiated a review within the U.S. government to formulate a strategy for maintaining U.S. preponderance.

Two documents asserting two very different opinions came to light. The first was written by the Chief of Staff (later the Secretary of State) Colin Powell, a Vietnam veteran. Powell wrote that we can’t enter a war without an “exit strategy.” We have the responsibility to ask ourselves if the goal is clear enough and if American interests are at risk. Can we mobilize sufficient resources and maintain them for as long as necessary? Is there support for such action coming from Congress or the nation? Have we exhausted all other options? Only if the answer is in the affirmative to the questions above may we go to war and finish it as quickly as possible.

The second document was written by two people who led the government, at least conceptually, during George W. Bush’s term in office: Paul Wolfowitz and Scooter Libby. They weren’t deterred from taking an unequivocal stance that action is crucial, not necessarily stemming out of an internal or international consensus but rather to encourage countries to adopt a model like America. Their reasoning was ideological: America serves as a paradigm for the rest of the world. Practically speaking, we have a window of opportunity after the collapse of the Soviet Union and before the rise of a new world power.

Even the zealous neoconservatives realize that this window has already closed. However, it was Bush who used this open window to focus on the wrong target in Iraq. They understand that Obama has no other way to proceed besides the current one and that anyone still entertaining the idea of a forced “American Peace” in the rest of the world is simply a captive to an outdated myth. They understand that it is just not possible to send aircraft over unless there is an urgent call for humanitarian action, as indeed took place in Libya, and it is impossible to send forces on the ground to just about anywhere. They have accepted what is known the world over — except in a frightened small town on the shore of the Mediterranean where they continue to anticipate the landlord of old.