Obama the Isolationist in Syria

President Barack Obama has been compared to President Jimmy Carter since he won the presidency of the United States almost five years ago. He was described as a similar copy of Carter. During the upheaval in Tunisia and Egypt such similarity had been repeatedly mentioned because Obama’s stance then was similar to Carter’s in the Tehran crisis that led to the overthrow of the Shah and the rise of Khomeini to power.

It was fair to say that Obama chose the right position by being neutral on Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen; even when he participated with France and Britain in the war against Libya to topple Moammar Gadhafi. Movements in those countries were initiated in the street against the existing regimes that were unable to evolve, and it was not easy to rescue them from their own mistakes.

However, in Syria, Obama has chosen a wrong position that will lead to serious consequences in the region and the world. He let the Assad regime, Hezbollah and the Iranians encircle the popular uprising in Syria in a way that will threaten the whole region. Senator John McCain was more aware of the unfolding events in Syria, the potential risks and the assumed leadership role of the United States. He said, “The Middle East has always been more important than oil, and still is. The United States has friends and allies in the Middle East who depend on us for their security and who contribute more to the defense of our nation than most Americans will ever know. But, believe me, Americans will know it very quickly if global trade and energy flows can no longer transit the Suez Canal. They will know it if we lose key Arab partners such as the Kingdom of Jordan.”

Ironically, the United States government keeps silent today about the thousands of Iranians who are fighting in Syria, where the Obama administration is currently pursuing Iranian ships all over the globe to prevent them from selling oil or shipping weapons in containers. This glaring inconsistency between pursuing a bunch of ships overseas and keeping silent about thousands of armed individuals is stunning. There has been no great role for Moscow in the region since 1972, and the Iranian role in the region has been limited in Gaza and Lebanon.

Does that mean Obama policy is terminating the Eisenhower Doctrine which has been adopted as U.S. policy since 1957, with the United States pulling out of the Middle East and leaving the region for the Russians and the Iranians? The potential risks in the Middle East for world security has always been great, McCain says. The Iranians are changing Syria to a stronghold for their terrorist plans that will threaten all.

President Obama could have been the only U. S. president to be popular with many Arabs because he came to their region, spoke in their language, expressed their hopes and supported their uprisings. Today, he has lost all that popularity as he has let them down in Syria, despite the ongoing carnage, use of chemical weapons and internationally forbidden heavy weapons.