There is almost nothing in Sen. Barbara Boxer’s repertoire that interests me. I find her, if anything, obnoxious, egregiously obtuse, and representative of those political elites who suffer the illusion they are serving their country. Still, I do find agreement with her ire in observing the manner in which Iran Iraqi President Maliki recently received President Ahmadinejad. Aside from the cultural aversion I have to men kissing other men, and holding hands as if they were teenaged lovers, the fact is that Mr. Maliki demonstrated how amateurish he is in matters of foreign diplomacy. I had a similar reaction when Mr. Bush held hands with the Saudi King at his ranch in Crawford; given the price of oil today, it looks as if that romance was short lived, too.
Of course, there is a certain protocol receiving a foreign head of state (if Ahmadinejad is that, in fact), but the question arises whether such an inappropriate display of fellowship didn’t actually encourage Moqtada al-Sadr (now living in Iran) to increase the efforts of his so-called Mahdi Army to create mischief in Basra. We can most certainly assume that Ahmadinejad is capable of measuring the cut of a fellow diplomat’s jib, and then taking advantage. This is a critical issue because diplomacy only has two categories: professional, and everything else. In my judgment, Mr. Maliki demonstrated “everything else.” The consequences could have been much worse, but we may not know the full extent of his error for several months.
Iran continues to exert unwanted interference in Iraq by providing men and munitions to the Mahdi Army and other pro-Shi'a factions — and doing it with impunity. I have little doubt that Iran will continue its meddling until the Maliki government puts a stop to it. It is certain that Mr. Maliki hasn’t consulted with me on this (more the pity, I think), but if he expects to unite the Iraqi people, he must protect them from such deviants as Moqtada al-Sadr and covert operatives from Iran’s revolutionary guards. The best way to do that is for Maliki to issue a shoot on sight order to his senior commanders, and offer a bounty for every captured or killed insurgent; naturally, each apprehension warrants full media exposure. I have every confidence that this kind of exposure will cause Iran to re-think their plan for Iraq.
I do believe Iran has a plan — and that no one is going to like it. The ayatollahs of Iran no doubt see themselves as the legitimate heirs of a new world-wide Caliphate. It is difficult to imagine that the Saudis agree, or any of the other oil sheiks of the Middle East. On the other hand, none of those other fellows is working on the development of nuclear weapons. Iran’s armed forces are presently insufficient to attack Iraq with any certitude of success (so long as the U. S. military maintains a presence), but our rapid withdrawal from Iraq could send a dangerous signal to the ayatollahs (not unlike the one that triggered the first Gulf war). Again, diplomacy depends on more than the spoken word; it often hinges on an innocuous action. For the sake of the Iraqi people, I hope Mr. Maliki and other Iraqi leaders are learning important lessons. I hope Ambassador Ryan Crocker is providing tutorial services, because there is still much to accomplish before the United States completely disengages itself from Iraq.
In fairness, Mr. Maliki is not the world’s only novice diplomat. As I said, we have President Bush along with two competing liberal clowns named Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — both of whom have made almost every diplomatic blunder possible for mere presidential candidates. They each remind me of the erstwhile Jimmy Carter (now conspiring to aid and abet terrorists), who incompetently informed Iran (via the evening news) exactly what they could expect from his administration once Iran seized our embassy and took American hostages. Americans and Iraqis can do without inept diplomats, thank you very much, and this is particularly true when they are the Head of State.
Iran continues to exert unwanted interference in Iraq by providing men and munitions to the Mahdi Army and other pro-Shi'a factions — and doing it with impunity. I have little doubt that Iran will continue its meddling until the Maliki government puts a stop to it. It is certain that Mr. Maliki hasn’t consulted with me on this (more the pity, I think), but if he expects to unite the Iraqi people, he must protect them from such deviants as Moqtada al-Sadr and covert operatives from Iran’s revolutionary guards. The best way to do that is for Maliki to issue a shoot on sight order to his senior commanders, and offer a bounty for every captured or killed insurgent; naturally, each apprehension warrants full media exposure. I have every confidence that this kind of exposure will cause Iran to re-think their plan for Iraq.
I do believe Iran has a plan — and that no one is going to like it. The ayatollahs of Iran no doubt see themselves as the legitimate heirs of a new world-wide Caliphate. It is difficult to imagine that the Saudis agree, or any of the other oil sheiks of the Middle East. On the other hand, none of those other fellows is working on the development of nuclear weapons. Iran’s armed forces are presently insufficient to attack Iraq with any certitude of success (so long as the U. S. military maintains a presence), but our rapid withdrawal from Iraq could send a dangerous signal to the ayatollahs (not unlike the one that triggered the first Gulf war). Again, diplomacy depends on more than the spoken word; it often hinges on an innocuous action. For the sake of the Iraqi people, I hope Mr. Maliki and other Iraqi leaders are learning important lessons. I hope Ambassador Ryan Crocker is providing tutorial services, because there is still much to accomplish before the United States completely disengages itself from Iraq.
In fairness, Mr. Maliki is not the world’s only novice diplomat. As I said, we have President Bush along with two competing liberal clowns named Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — both of whom have made almost every diplomatic blunder possible for mere presidential candidates. They each remind me of the erstwhile Jimmy Carter (now conspiring to aid and abet terrorists), who incompetently informed Iran (via the evening news) exactly what they could expect from his administration once Iran seized our embassy and took American hostages. Americans and Iraqis can do without inept diplomats, thank you very much, and this is particularly true when they are the Head of State.
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