Obama's plan for the Middle East

Obama will be making a speech Thursday about his plans in the Middle East. Here is a basic recap of what has been going on and how Obama should (of course my opinion) think about what has happened and how to respond.

1. Egypt had a major revolution that toppled the Mubarak Regime. Mubarak was a harsh dictator to his people, but make no mistake, he was useful to the United States. He kept peace with Israel (important to us) and kept the Suez Canal open with no worries. Now, there is worry. If the new regime in Egypt were to violate either the peace with Israel (which is heavily unpopular in Egypt) or restrict the USA or any major country from the Suez Canal, expect heavy involvement. After all, how popular would Obama be with $6/gallon as the gas price.

 If this canal gets shut down, expect US and world action.

2. Pakistan: WE DID IT!!!! WE KILLED OSAMA BIN LADEN, FINALLY!!!!! Except one miniscule problem: we need to find out how Pakistan allowed Osama to live within a mile or two of a military facility the equivalent of West Point and within close vicinity of the capital Islamabad. Obama is expected to keep peace with Pakistan, which is definitely the right thing to do. How we will patch up our now recent trust issues with Pakistan remains to be seen.

 If only he were found here. This would simplify and help eliminate US-Pakistan tension.

3. Libya: Good ol' Libya, good ol' Ghadaffi. Oh, how no one seems to care for you much, Ghadaffi. You officially ticked off every NATO country by blowing up your peaceful protesting people with tanks. You did what political scientists would call a miscalculation. You thought because Egypt was doing it, and Syria was doing it, that it would be okay for you to kill your own protesters. Small problem: no one cares for you, and likes you less than Mubarak. You are less powerful, and were more brutal. The UN, who can't seem to stop anyone, is stepping in to show its muscle against your worse than everyone else brutality. Sorry Ghadaffi, but you pissed off a lot of other people with actions like this:                          

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKw4VO-IZL0          Courtesy of Al Jazeera

Come on, what did these kids do to deserve this?

4. Finally, Syria: There are other countries dealing with problems, such as Yemen, but these are the main four countries that are under major USA examination. The USA imposed sanctions on them, and expect to continue high amounts of scrutiny on Syria. The US did this to "increase pressure on the government of Syria to end its violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system." President Bashar al-Assad won't be pleased about these sanctions, but that's what you get for killing peaceful protesters.

Yes, please do kick their asses, so that the USA can come in to kick your's Syria.

Lesson for all of these countries: The USA may be a little less powerful and less intervention crazy with Obama instead of Bush, but do NOT mess with the USA, UN, or NATO. It will be interesting to see what Obama has to say in Thursday's speech, and I will be sure to blog about that.

To honor George Washington, he would believe in diplomacy in these situations, but would most likely want to avoid intervention, as his farewell address states to do with the situation with England and France in 1796.

Until later, General George Washington
President of the Continental Army.