Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Split Policy for Iran and Bahrain

 

The New York Times: Reports on two different polices by the Obama Administration when it comes to protests in Iran and Bahrain, in Iran POTUS wants people on the streets, in Bahrain it wants the government to reform but not supporting the protesters. This is down to hard edge politics folks, the American Fifth Fleet has its base in Bahrain, the US needs this base as a counter to Iran. Thus the Oval is being very careful when it comes to Bahrain, it does not want to see protesters overthrowing another ally in the region. In Iran POTUS is getting another chance after he fluffed the protests of last year, even if the protesters fails in Tehran it will keep the Regime on edge, that is good for the US and the West. The mistake Foreign Policy experts make is to assume the last case study matches the last great success, as with the Kennedy Administration they thought they had handled the Cuban Missile Crisis well thus they knew how to deal with the War in Vietnam, they didn’t and Vietnam become the first US War the US has ever lost. Although it seems that Egypt has worked out, one can no tell if this would be the result in Bahrain, Yemen, etc, it could allow Islamic extremists to take over and US Foreign Policy would be damaged for years and Iran would become a Super Power in the region. This is a wise move by POTUS, he is not listening to his idealists, GOOD.
 

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