Astounding failure of US Middle East policy

Submitted by Soloview (Canada), Mar 14, 2013 at 18:18

It is amazing but true that people who fifty and forty years ago would be immediately recognized as ideological adversaries of the US. and dealt with accordingly are nowadays plying their trade without any fear of consequences. Naturally, it has to do with the political culture now occupying the White House, but it is far from certain that the domestic political chic actually causes or significantly enhances the Islamist threat to the West. It helps by simply being clueless. It does not matter much if Rice's first name is Condoleeza or Suzanne.

The good old CIA at the time of Brezhnev would have made short work of an Erdogan. Turkey was just too important piece in the geopolitical chess set to be be allowed to drift under an overambitious hostile satrap. Today of course he a political creature begat by the Saudi oil money is an untouchable cow. It can impose its will on Turks with impunity no matter how totally wayward its cosmology and pre-modern its understanding of the world. So expect more stupid provocations and assaults on the Western culture from Erdogan. One think we can be sure of is that if he tomorrow ordered all males in Turkey to wear the fez, the US State Department would have no issue with it.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".