Friday, September 25, 2009

A FAIRLY GOOD WEEK

I get it. We are spoiled Americans. We are spoiled and demanding, and if you happen to be our chief executive, damn near impossible to please. We Americans have taken criticizing our leaders to a near Olympic sport. And while there are many better at the endeavor than me, I think I should at least get a bronze for it myself.
So when President Obama kowtowed to the Russians and cancelled plans for installation of a U.S. missile shield in Poland, I was one of the ones taken slightly aback....until I remembered it was U.S. built and probably didn't work anyway, so who cares. Besides, screw Europe, kissing Russian and Chinese asses should be the top priority anyway.
But Obama has rebounded. The U.S. has made two decent level terrorist arrests on U.S. soil, so i guess he could take some of the credit just as the conservatives do when they say Bush kept us safe after 9/11. Nice to see we haven't let out guards down.
And two days ago in a speech at the U.N., he gave a tough speech on a variety of subjects........telling the world to stop expecting us to carry the water alone in the world, a push for more trade parity and cures for climate issues, but these were the easy issues. He also demanded that Israel stop bulldozing and creating more settlements, which will destroy any hope of a long lasting peace agreement with the Palestinians.
And that wasn't the biggest issue on his plate this week, he also spoke tough to Iran. At the G20, he spoke tough to Iran with other leaders fully behind him; France, Britain, Germany and yes, Russia, but with the full expectations that China will join in and align themselves with us once and for all in regards to their big time trade partner, Iran. Maybe this diplomacy stuff works?
You see, the CIA has been monitoring a huge nuclear site in Iran for the past four years now (what the hell was Bush doing...still stuck to the chair in that elementary school classroom?). They have been monitoring it, it is embedded into a mountain range, and by all accounts, it is massive. Too massive for any peaceful purposes.
So solid was the evidence, Iran even admitted they were building it, a giant step in dealing with the nuclear issue in the Middle East. At least they can now speak candidly.
So next week when talks with Iran begin in earnest, Iran will realize they are running out of any meaningful friends in the world, and should consider a plan "B." Next week, they will see that the threats of embargo's and sanctions are real, and their backs are against the wall.
All in all, a pretty good week (for once) for our chief exec. Keep up the good work. And that is the world...."the World According to Kimba." thanks, as always for reading.

6 comments:

Papa Giorgio said...

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Bush? The question is, what will Obama do? I suspect nothing... Israel may do something.

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Kim said...

What can we do? Military intervention....carpet bomb Iran? Set off the fuse on the Middle East powder keg?

If we can get Russia, China, India and Europe on our side, we could pressure them......

It blows my mind we have been watching their progress for over four years, regardless of who was in power.

And as un-American as it is to say, who are we to decide what goes on in any other country other than our own? We clearly are not the worlds super power any more (if we ever truly were), but we continue to try and dictate what goes on in other countries and regions. The trouble with engaging in Iraq and Afghanistan is we show the enormity of fighting ground wars. Should an country in the Middle east be afraid of us? I don't think they are. Economic sanctions? These governments have very little empathy over the plights of their citizens.

If Israel goes after Iran, is it an automatic we support them? All hell will break loose. We could set off a course of events that dictate we never leave the Middle East, which will continue to drain our economy and have disasterous effects.

Obama is in a tough spot.

Papa Giorgio said...

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Obama is the tough spot,

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Kim said...

Only if you are Israel. He is more sensitive to the plight of the Palestinians than any other President, short of the nightmare called Jimmy.

Papa Giorgio said...

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By the way... nice avatar... White Lion.

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Kim said...

A remnant of my youth. Some friends of mine were discussing names, and obviously the name Kim for a guy came up. A buddy came to my defense and jokingly called me Kimba the white lion.....and when he did, my girlfriend (who was slightly pissed at me at the time) said "more like Kimba the white LIAR..."

and a nickname was born.