Obama Channels Ethelred

Ethelred the Unready, King of England, 978-1016

Almost fifty years ago, Professor Gordon, English through and through, made OTR's study of the History of England most enjoyable. One of the professor's favorite references throughout the year was Ethelred the Unready.   Ethelred was more "ready" than his name implied; however, we do remember him today for his decade-long payment of tribute - protection money - to the King of Denmark. Eventually the payment wasn't enough to keep the Danes from invading England and forcing Ethelred to flee across the English Channel to safety in Normandy. There's more to this history, but more significant for us these days is the parallel between Ethelred's protection money and Obama's appeasement to the insanity of Islamic jihad. Those in the know should have their money on jihad. Victor Davis Hanson - classicist, war historian, and date farmer - has a fine analysis of the foreign policy disaster that has unfolded over the last four years.  

Arab Spring Gives Way To The Long, Hot Summer

Ambassador Chris Stevens was murdered yesterday by Islamic fanatics. Three months ago he was in the forefront of efforts to free Libyans of the dictatorship of Muammar Qadhafi 

The idea of cultivating Arab self-determination without strong guidance from the West has produced diseased fruit. Victor Davis Hanson provides readers with all the information they need about current events in Libya and Egypt and perspectives on the future of the Middle East under Obama's foreign policy.

Netanyahu Teaches Obama A Lesson

In their meeting today, the prime minister of Israel taught the president of the United States a very simple history lesson. The video is a stand alone statement. It doesn't need interpretation. BTW, Netanyahu delivered his remarks without a teleprompter.



It gets priceless around 2:40 where Netanyahu asks Obama how they can possibly negotiate a peace from a government backed by "the Palestinian version of Al Qaeda," an terrorist organization that has attacked Obama for killing Bin Laden.

This statement may become quite famous in the years ahead.

Michael Ledeen: The Spooks' Black Thursday

This Pajamas Media post is a tad unsettling. It does not portray the intelligence community OTR knew a generation ago. Perhaps the term, "government intelligence," is an oxymoron after all. News coverage of events in Egypt tell us we'll know the quality--or lack thereof--of our assessments by early tomorrow. That's when demonstrators and the Egypt military are expected to take this chess match into the endgame.

Egypt Moves Into The Future

Elliott Abrams, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and an adviser to George W Bush's administration, has some significant thoughts on the current situation in Egypt and the Middle East. Though our marines will not be in this fight, OTR keeps hearing "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" echo in his thoughts. Though our government has its faults, as all governments do, the United States remains the best hope for the free world and for those who want to be free. You can read Abrams's Washington Post column here. Let us pray that others in positions to affect policy do the same and follow through with actions to secure peace and liberty in the Middle East and throughout the world.

Seeing The Real Iran

William Katz (Urgent Agenda) notes a very significant editorial on Iran appearing in today's Times of London. I really love the historical references here. Too bad the American press has forgotten the past.

The Mirror Doesn't Lie

The White House couldn't be pleased about the president's trip to Asia when it looked in Der Spiegel this morning. In a nutshell, he returned to Washington weaker, empty-handed, and looking a lot like Jimmy Carter. For more on the story, read Leslie Gelb's piece at The Daily Beast, and Victor Davis Hanson's take on liberal anger over the tour at National Review Online.

The Mind Of The Modern Liberal

Fred Siegel, writing in City Journal, has an interesting history lesson for us in on the origin of modern liberalism in America. I posted this today on the anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy because it reminds us of how liberalism has changed since his passing. His defense of liberty (1961), ". . . we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to insure the survival and the success of liberty," is one we are not likely to hear again from liberalism. Of course, times do change. In those 46 years, my personal political views have moved from the posture of what Siegal calls "the 68ers" to the center-right where I would be happy to support what has become known as the Kennedy Doctrine. That so many of my generation have turned their backs on 1961 to cling to 1968 leaves me quite puzzled.

Photo: President Kennedy authorizes the naval blockade of Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis.

The Berlin Wall Comes Down: 11-9-1989

Scott Johnson channeled my thoughts perfectly in his post on the fall of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago today. It would be impossible for me to add to it, so I'll simply supply a link here.

Johnson uses Peter Robinson's recollection of the event for the body of his post. Robinson is a key player in the story as he wrote the famous "tear down this wall" speech for his president. Readers already know of my great respect for Robinson. If you have not read his memoir, How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life, please add it to your reading list.

Iran's Surprise

National Review Online has Victor Davis Hanson's comments on the latest news on Iran's "other" nuclear project. As always, he is spot on analyzing this dangerous situation. Read it.

Playing The West Like A Violin

Tyrannical regimes have a distinct advantage over free nations in their ability to orchestrate what I call a "closed loop" foreign policy. Those regimes know outcomes early on as well as the tactics necessary to achieve them. The Roxana Saberi case in Iran is a perfect example of the closed loop at work. The mullahs know the Obama administration will portray Saberi's release as a policy victory. They also know Iran will be portrayed as a kinder, gentler nation. William Katz (Urgent Agenda) provides us with an analysis of what's happening with this event and shows how the leftist state press, The New York Times, is spreading the good news for the Obama administration.

UPDATE: Katz follows up on his earlier post with a link to Michael Ledeen's remarks at NRO. Brief and to the point, I'd say.

Hot and Windy with Occasional Incoming

Fox News is reporting that President Obama has announced to leaders in Congress that he will end combat operations in Iraq on August 31, 2010. I think that's a great day for the last plane out of Baghdad because skies will be clear with 10 mph winds out of the northwest and a high temperature of 108 degrees.

Wow. The need to soothe the agony of the anti-war left in Obama's camp must be critical. I guess the lefties think all those computer simulations and models popped out "08312010" in response to the question, "When can we stop fighting?" Such an announcement really has no meaning, but it does bring the Islamofascists closer to reality. I can see them inside their caves in the Hindu Kush typing the information and other notes onto their calendar page under the heading, "Things to Do." They may have reason for concern as our combat forces in Afghanistan may be 140,000 soldiers stronger than it is today. Six from one, half dozen to another. On the other hand, those forces could be returning to American soil. But don't worry, American combat soldiers won't be fighting in Iraq.

One thing I learned from my political science professors was that war, by definition, is seldom a unilateral experience; historically, it has required an opposing force. I would like to think that military history and experience, rather than strong ideology, will drive our decision making. However, we already know President Obama has little training in history, military or otherwise, and limited executive experience in the real world. Thus, he announces the end of our combat operations to the world "08312010." That is eighteen months from now and a signal to our opponents to work overtime to embarrass the United States and weaken our foreign policy. His advisers should know better.

I wonder what the weather will be on "11022010?" I predict that it will be Tuesday.