WarSclerotic

The question is harsh, but not out of line: Is U.S. President Barack Obama fit to run American foreign policy in the Middle East?

When it comes to the upheaval in the Middle East, Obama appears to have been stricken with temporary blindness. The U.S. has already had a president — Woodrow Wilson — who could not function toward the end of his second term. Will Obama be similar to Wilson? Is he in an incapacitated state?

Obama on Thursday condemned Egypt’s military regime, which is making a last-ditch effort to save the country from the dark zealots of the Muslim Brotherhood. But Obama never uttered a word of disapproval of the Muslim Brotherhood’s actions, not over the incarceration of U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak nor over the prohibition of anyone not affiliated with Muslim Brotherhood from holding a role in government.

Strong admonishment of the killing of civilians? No problem. Such condemnation is welcome (and what about when American police kill civilians?). A call for national reconciliation? This is also a worthy initiative. Expressing hope that order will be restored? Certainly. But the U.S. acting more quickly to impose sanctions on the Egyptian military than it did to put sanctions in place on the Iranian regime? That is madness. It is gross interference in internal Egyptian politics and undercuts stability.

Syrian President Bashar Assad is slaughtering his own people, yet the U.S. has to be pushed with a cattle prod to chirp dissatisfaction. Hezbollah has entered Syria to fight on behalf of Assad, and the White House is examining the situation. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 civilians have been killed in Syria, while the U.S. shrugs its shoulders. The civil war continues unabated in the Damascus suburbs and Homs, and what is America’s position?

All the harm caused by Egypt’s interim government, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, does not equal even one day of the brutal savagery inflicted by Assad. The U.S. witnesses what takes place in Syria and barely says a word. It also has not intervened in a concrete or massive way as al-Qaida members have penetrated Lebanon. This al-Qaida presence manifested itself in the powerful explosion that took place in the Dahiyeh neighborhood, a Hezbollah stronghold, on Thursday. Is America satisfied? Disappointed? It hardly makes a sound.

From the current situation, the U.S. and its allies will emerge as the main long-term losers. The Syrian rebels will not forget the cold shoulder they received and they will not forgive, whether they take power or are defeated. The disappointment in the U.S. felt by Egyptian military officials and liberals is also bubbling above the surface. America’s weakness has created a wide cushion for Russian activity. The Kremlin gains when America abandons the field. Without effort, investment or risk, Russia is undermining America’s status in these countries.

Obama reads the map of the Middle East upside down and he has found one tiny point — Israel, which is dealing with the Palestinian issue. Meanwhile, America, whose feeble conduct is spiced with cynicism and weakness (as evidenced by Obama’s statements on Egypt), is losing even its ability to influence the Israelis and Palestinians.