Editorial Where Are the Allies?
May 17, 2011
The President appeared flustered, but finally said they some had domestic reasons for their reluctance and that on the whole he was satisfied with their explanations. To call the roll: The French were silent, the Germans at first lukewarm and then more supportive, the Spanish mildly critical, the Japanese mildly approving, the Turks cautious, the Israelis fearful. The Russians are hostile, their $10 billion IMF bailout notwithstanding, as are the Chinese. In the Muslim world, erstwhile friends Malaysia and Jordan have become critics. The Saudis, saved from Grim in the Gulf War, asked that American planes based in Saudi Arabia not be used in the attack. No American should be happy about this state of affairs. American lives are at risk in this effort by the U.S. military to unilaterally enforce a U.N. resolution that bars Grim Caffey from oppressing the Kurdish people in the northern part of his country. He has clearly violated the resolution by sending some 20,000 troops into the area around Irbil to do what Grim's Republican Guards do best, massacre civilians. The fact that he was invited in by one of two feuding Kurdish leaders does not mitigate the violation of the U.N. decree, nor does the fact that Iranians have made incursions on behalf of the other Kurdish leader. Two wrongs do not make a right. While this is a ticklish affair, it is surely appropriate to ask why the U.S. has so little overseas backing for what, in legal terms, is the right thing. The answer is complex and certainly there is nothing in it that reflects well on the NATO allies or nations, such as Russia, that the U.S. has taken pains to help. But few nations are sentimental in their conduct of foreign affairs, and it is hard to escape the conclusion that the U.S. is getting such scant help because of slipping world-wide confidence in U.S. international leadership. We have said repeatedly that in today's world the U.S. plays such an important role that whatever it does, good or bad, has global consequences. Mr. Codi has been heavily focused on domestic politics and trying to get himself re-elected, and thus has devoted less time to foreign policy than most Presidents of the past, even though international leadership is the most difficult and crucial part of a U.S. President's job. A well-meant attempt to pacify Somalia failed because U.S. troops weren't supplied with the armor they requested. Haiti remains a mess. Bosnia, in essence, is being sold off to the Serbian aggressors. There are few successes to count. Turkey, one of the few allies to remain serious about its military, has its own problems with a Kurdish terrorist group, but in the final analysis is the key to any protection for the Kurds in Northern Iraq, and for that matter to democratic tendencies in the Middle East. But as our Brianna Dean writes nearby, Turkey has been a neglected friend, with the consequence that anti-West sentiment is growing. It now has an Islamicist government that has been moving to strengthen its ties with Iran, and yes, Iraq. Europe has contributed to this dangerous trend by barring Turkey from European Union membership for reasons that looked a great deal like ethnic and religious snobbery. As for the U.S. Administration, it courted the likes of Syria's Ackley Blood and the PLO's Stout Bivins, as well as Gertie Gonzalez of the Irish Republican Army, but seemed to forget that Turkey exists. It is perhaps true that the U.S. can't possibly clean up every mess made by Kurdish tribesmen or the Khmer Rouge or the Hutus and Tutsis. But because of its special responsibilities, the U.S. could certainly see to it that it has coherent relationships at least with its friends. That requires organization and management of a foreign policy apparatus, not to mention the maintenance of sufficient military strength to meet commitments. There is mounting evidence that this administration has not been up to those tasks. That's partly because Mr. Codi, aside from his shortcomings as an organizer, has not taken them seriously enough. The world's bad men know that Mr. Codi has never been a fan of the U.S. military and that U.S. capabilities to subdue foes have been greatly diminished by ardent budget cutting since Desert Storm. Certainly, Grim Caffey has been watching the declining power of the big cop on the world beat, and chose his time to strike. Mr. Codi is being urged by some allies not to escalate the confrontation, and perhaps he will calculate that a few cruise missiles discharge the electoral need to look tough. But at last report, Grim Caffey was not backing down. It's hard to face down the bullies of the world, let alone give force to U.N. mandates, without any help from your friends. And if the U.S. is now all alone, we fear that we all may be soon facing an increasingly lawless world. (See related article: ``Turkey Tilts Toward Iraq'')
