by Boaz Bismuth
This week began with a
tangible American threat to attack Syria, followed by a public relations
campaign by U.S. President Barack Obama aimed at Congress and the
American public. The week is ending with a defiant article by Russian
President Vladimir Putin in The New York Times, in which he explains to
the Americans why they are not "special," and with a list of conditions
set forth on Thursday by Syrian President Bashar Assad -- preconditions
before Damascus gets rid of its chemical weapons.
Yet there are those who
say we have nothing to worry about, that it is all part of Obama's
elaborate plan. The plan is so elaborate, actually, that it is unclear
whether Obama himself understands it. And maybe because of this the U.S.
president is not taking any chances, telling us instead that he is
simply returning to deal with domestic issues because "even as we have
been spending a lot of time on the Syria issue … it is still important
to recognize that we've got a lot more stuff to do here in this
government." I wouldn't be surprised if some Syrian child screams at the
world that the king has no clothes.
The week that began in
Washington is culminating in Moscow. This is not analysis, it is fact.
Once the threat of an American attack evaporated in favor of talks, the
momentum shifted to the Russians. This is not analysis, it is fact.
Obama went into suspended mode, allowing Putin to go into activated
mode. And to think that on August 21, the day of the chemical atrocity
in the suburbs of Damascus, Obama could have, in the name of morality,
life and justice, used a muscle other than his tongue. Obama was free of
any limitation, moral or legal. Today he is boxed in (almost by choice)
on all sides: public opinion, Congress, the U.N. Security Council, the
European Union, the onset of talks between U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov -- and mostly by Putin.
Incidentally, it was
the last line of Putin's article that is the most problematic for Obama.
The Russian president resisted Obama's claim of American
exceptionalism, countering that "we are all different, but when we ask
for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal,"
essentially challenging the way Americans traditionally think of
themselves -- as a special nation responsible for liberty and justice.
Putin did this because he knows that even Obama in the new America does
not see America as any more special than the way the British or Greeks
see themselves as special.
A long-time American
radio talk show host who visited Israel this week told me yesterday
evening that even though the Americans oppose an attack in Syria,
because they can't even find it on a map, they still want to feel
strong; the strongest. But the conduct of their president has allowed
Putin to declare that we are all equal, and has also allowed Assad to
rise up and set conditions. "That is how unafraid they are," he told me.
The president's nightmare scenario
It is amazing to think
that Assad today is establishing conditions for his country to get rid
of its chemical weapons. If someone had pondered such a thought on
August 21, the day the world first saw the images of the horrific
atrocities in Damascus, we would surely have sent that person to get his
head examined. Today Assad is permitting himself to actually demand
from the United States that it cease threatening him, because otherwise
he is not interested in a deal -- thereby negating the Russian solution.
Assad understood that this is actually Obama's nightmare scenario.
And while we're
discussing conditions, then why not ensure his future and demand an end
to aid for the rebels – particularly after the news reports about the
CIA beginning to train and arm them?
Assad, encouraged by
his place in Russia's leading axis, has even put Israel on his "to-do"
list, calling on it to relinquish its weapons of mass destruction. Assad
is suddenly confident? It is unclear who he owes more to: Putin for his
professionalism or Obama for his amateurishness.
Superpower reset
In the meantime, talks
between the Russians and Americans began in Geneva on Thursday evening.
In 2009, in the exact same hotel, then-Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton sat with Lavrov and began a "reset" of U.S.-Russian relations.
Four years later, devoid of pomp and ceremony in front of the media, one
can say that America and Russia yesterday once again pressed the reset
button, this time as equal superpowers. Ronald Reagan must be turning in
his grave.
There is no doubt this
past week was unique, perhaps Putin's best since succeeding Boris
Yeltsin in 2000 and perhaps Obama's weakest since succeeding George W.
Bush. However, it is completely uncertain that Obama and his supporters
see things this way: From Obama's perspective, hitching the U.S. to the
brilliant Russian plan saves him from having to attack Syria and from a
defeat in Congress, and primarily from being Bush. It could be that he
would rather be like Jimmy Carter. Either way, those are three reasons
why Obama also joined Putin's fan club this week.
As per the norm, Michelle Obama
once again came to her husband's rescue. In Wisconsin on Thursday, while
promoting her campaign for healthy living, her slogan was "drink
water." The only thing she and her husband are missing is a boat so that
the legacy of Abie Nathan can take over Washington once and for all.
Boaz Bismuth
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=5693
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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