Iran

Barack Obama, Gitmo, Gordon Cucullu, Guantanamo, Inside Gitmo, Iran, North Korea

Obama vs. the Atomic Axis of Evil

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In the New York Post this morning, Gordon Cucullu writes of President Obama’s proposed defense program cuts as Iran and North Korea continue to cooperate; their joint efforts will soon bring Israel and our West Coast within range of their nuclear weapons:

The focus of the joint program is multi-faceted: Begin with rocket bodies produced by North Korea. Improve them with enhanced, longer-range capabilities. Meanwhile, develop a warhead and payload capacity. Then add terminal-guidance technology so the warhead can hit what it aims for. Finally, produce a nuclear payload that can vaporize cities and populations. (The bomb Pyongyang has tested was small — analysts don’t think it has a Hiroshima-size nuke yet.)

Years of diplomacy led by the Europeans (and encouraged by the Bush administration) have failed to stop either Tehran or Pyongyang’s progress, let alone their cooperation. How will the new administration respond to the latest chilling developments?

To date, President Obama has indicated policies that have been interpreted by America’s enemies as signs of weakness: a willingness to enter high-level diplomatic talks without precondition; closing Guantanamo; his apologetic Al Arabiya interview.

The new president is also on record opposing missile-defense technology. Yet decades of R&D are now paying off: Stunned critics watched recent tests at Vandenberg Air Fore base where “hitting a bullet with a bullet” proved to be well within the capability of USAF scientists.

Of course, the administration has also ordered Defense Department planners to cut 10 percent from their budget. This, while it pushes a $900 billion “stimulus package.” Billions for special interests, but not a cent for defense?

Editor — Gordon Cucullu is a Vietnam veteran, Special Forces officer, and retired Army Lieutenant Colonel. His new book is ‘Inside Gitmo: The True Story behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay.’

Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Taliban

President Obama extends a hand towards many clenched fists

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I note that many editorials in newspapers this morning quote from or allude to one paragraph of President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech:

“To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” [emphasis added mine]

President Obama intentionally lumped together “the Muslim world” with “leaders … who seek to sow conflict” and “the silencing of dissent.” Editors and commentators believing that he can convince the 57 Muslim nations to become less autocratic seems the epitome of naiveté; within them, secular democracy is the wrong side of history, immodest, and threatening.

Pakistan, Lebanon, Indonesia, and Egypt all allow dissent and Islamic radicalism continues to rise in those nations. There are no signs that dissidents here in America mistakenly believe he was redressing petro-rich Arab nations for using vasts sums to support the spread of sharia law. If he was appealing to dissidents in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush and Pakistan’s tribal areas, they have already replied:

The Taliban on Tuesday killed four Pakistanis and two Afghan nationals they accused of spying for the US in North Waziristan. The bodies of three Pakistanis – Muhammad Nisar, Shahideen Khattak, Shadar – and Khanu Afghani, an Afghan refugee, were found on Tehsil Road, 25 kilometres from Mir Ali. Meanwhile, the bodies of Gul Zali, an Afghan national, and Majeed Khattak, a local, were found in Miranshah. A not [sic] found next to the bodies read that the bodies were “a gift for US President Barack Obama, Afghan President Karzai and President Asif Ali Zardari”.

Most likely, President Obama was offering his hand — with preconditions — to Iran and Syria where gathering radicals together and exporting them in the form of Islamic terrorism is foreign policy. If he unilaterally removes the military option from the table, it will be interesting to see how those nations respond.