Missing the Mark

Published in Stuttgarter Nachrichten
(Germany) on 12 August 2014
by Thomas Spang (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by LeAnn Kearney. Edited by Bora Mici.
Hillary Clinton has already missed the mark once. She admits it openly in her book "Hard Choices": Her support for George W. Bush’s war in Iraq in 2002 was a mistake. The voters who rejected her as the Democratic candidate for the White House saw things the same way. Instead, they sent into the race Barack Obama, who had always called Bush’s campaign against Saddam stupid.

Clinton is also missing the mark with her criticism of the president: Saying that arming the Syrian resistance earlier would have prevented the rise of the terrorist Islamic state sounds good, but it makes little sense. There were too few “moderates” in Syria who could have been brought into position against Assad’s well-trained armed forces overnight. U.S. air attacks would have then helped the terrorism brigades of the Caliphate the most.

Therefore, Obama correctly concluded that beyond a militarily enforced Pax Americana, the key to the resolution of the conflict lies not in Syria but Iraq. Thus, he tried to sway still-Prime Minister Maliki via influential Shiites to pave the way for a regime that is concerned with reconciliation. Clinton may criticize this pragmatism as foreign policy without a guiding principle. However, she should remember that the current catastrophe in the region is the result of a policy that followed big visions, but instead lit the fuse of a powder keg.


Am Ziel vorbei
Thomas Spang, 12.08.2014 21:00 Uhr

Hillary Clinton hat schon einmal danebengelegen. Sie gibt es in ihrem Buch „Hard Choices“ offen zu: Ihre Zustimmung zu George W. Bushs Krieg im Irak 2002 war ein Fehler. Das sahen auch die Wähler so, die sie als Kandidatin der Demokraten für das Weiße Haus zurückwiesen. Stattdessen schickten sie Barack Obama ins Rennen, der Bushs Feldzug gegen Saddam Hussein stets dumm genannt hatte.

Auch mit ihrer neuen Kritik am Präsidenten schießt Clinton am Ziel vorbei. Dass eine frühere Bewaffnung des syrischen Widerstands den Aufstieg der Terror-IS verhindert hätte, klingt gut, hat aber wenig Sinn. Es gab in Syrien zu wenig „Moderate“, die gegen Assads bestens ausgebildete Streitkräfte über Nacht in Stellung gebracht werden konnten. US-Luftangriffe hätten damit am meisten den Terrorbrigaden des Kalifats geholfen.

Obama schlussfolgerte daher richtig, dass jenseits einer militärisch erzwungenen Pax Americana der Schlüssel für die Lösung des Konflikts nicht in Syrien, sondern im Irak liegt. Deshalb versuchte er über einflussreiche Schiiten, Noch-Premier al-Maliki zu bewegen, den Weg für eine auf Ausgleich bedachte Regierung frei zu machen. Clinton mag diesen Pragmatismus als Außenpolitik ohne Leitidee kritisieren. Doch sollte sie sich daran erinnern, dass die gegenwärtige Katastrophe in der Region das Ergebnis einer Politik ist, die große Visionen verfolgte, stattdessen aber die Lunte an einem Pulverfass zündete.
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