My president, when you started your presidency, you received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. No one understood what you had done to deserve it. Personally, I thought the Norwegians wanted to buy your services. It was weird. Now the world understands why, it’s because you are not a man of war. I wondered how the Norwegians knew that you were not a man of war.
Now every country knows, in particularly Iran knows, Putin knows and Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah and Assad; they said they are no longer scared of the US as long as Obama is president.
You promised that the US would go to war against Syria because of the use of chemical weapons. The Turks and King Hussein of Jordan believed you. I doubt that Netanyahu, the head of Israel, trusted you. How can Israel believe you now? Israel should not rely on your promise not to let Iran get the atomic bomb. As the Israelis swore, “never again” to let their life be in someone else’s hands, I believe that the Israelis can do the job in Iran. They did it in Iraq, they did in Syria and they had the guts to destroy the Iranian factory in Sudan, which produced weapons for Iran and Hamas. Now after five years with Obama, I can see that all his senior advisers were not chosen for their quality and competence.
The warning of our president was neither sharp nor credible anyway. Syria has become a testing ground for Iran. How can Iran take our warning seriously? How can South Korea trust us to help them in case of an attack from North Korea? Can Japan continue to rely on us? By changing your intentions you shook the world.
You said to Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, former President of Tunisia, “Get Out”; you said to Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak of Egypt, “Get Out”; you said to Muammar Abu Meniar el-Gaddafi of Libya, “Get Out.” Do you know what that means? We Americans never said to anyone “get out.” This is very insulting, particularly for the Arab World. As a senior citizen, survivor of WWII, former officer, who knows war and battle, I believe that if someone would tell me the same words “Get Out” as you said to an elderly president Mubarak, of a country of 80 million people, who was an honest ally of the United states and a man who kept peace and stability in the Middle East for more than 30 years, I would be terribly offended. For the sake of our beloved country, would you accept that someone tell you, my president, “sorry, but please get out?” You would feel what Mubarak felt at his 82 years of age.
America needs to show a strong leader, who understands the plight of his people and who lets the American people create their jobs and not rely on the government. We as Americans cannot accept anyone using chemical weapons to kill people. No one understood what you meant by delaying your decision. I read the news everywhere and no one understood the way you see the situation. My advice to you, as you changed the way you want it, wait for the Congress to convene; the House of Representatives and the Senators will give you good advice. You have ignored the Congress for the last five years and the world knows it. Please review your initial decision. By delaying the entire operation, the world saw it as a weakness. Wait for the Congress to give you the international backing! Do it for the sake and the prestige of the United States! Please do not announce the day of the attack, or the nature of the attack. You are dealing with Iranians who are very shrewd and the Syrians are intelligent. Give them the right dose, people like Assad and the Ayatollah and Hassan Nasrallah understand that language.
Copyright 2013 Emile Tubiana
Love ya!
Jane
On the contrary, I believe what Obama has done is brilliant. He has shed no blood, but offered a stern warning. A stern enough warning to have Assad, while boasting in public, having his military scurry for cover. The United States does not have to be a policeman for the world. We do not have to come to the rescue of Israel, or, for that matter, to poor refugees everywhere (not just in Syria [because Syrians are more intelligent?]) that are experiencing atrocities like genocide, rape, torture, and gassing by unscrupulous powerful militaristic demigods.
The United States has the power in its military to seek out and eliminate, like it did with Osama bin Laden, any demigod it wishes without having to show great force like incinerating Damascus or the stupid “shock and awe” campaign of Bush and Rumsfeld. World opinion alone is on the side of right. United States and its president are not the world. Assad will soon feel the wrath of what he has done, even if the Congress, now being assailed by the American people not to go to military action, votes for diplomatic and other measures rather than any military strike.
You can bet that if Assad tries this stupid move again, there will be a rapid and surgical strike that will cut his spinal cord to his military, immediately. We will hear about it the next day, or with the speed of the Internet, within fifteen minutes after it happens from the president.
Ron