On New Year’s Eve 1977, at a lavish state dinner in Tehran, thrown in his honor by the secretly ailing Shah of Iran, Jimmy Carter’s campaign centerpiece of promoting international human rights ran headlong into geopolitical necessity. Celebrating the New Year with a critical Middle East ally, whose regime, unbeknownst to virtually all of the US intelligence community, limped into 1978 as terminal as its namesake, the new US President toasted Reza Pahlavi as an “island of stability” in a volatile region, and went on to actually imply the Shah – whose dreaded SAVAK was working overtime to arrest and torture Islamic fundamentalists bent on overthrowing his autocracy – was a democrat beholden to the same values as his Western benefactors. Of course oil was the thing, and if lip service was required to keep the barrels flowing, then so be it. Such choices were simply geopolitical reality.
In fact, Carter’s CIA field operations had fully let him down, just how bad would be clear for the world to see a bit more than a year later as blindfolded US Embassy personnel were marched through the streets of Tehran, helpless accoutrements to seismic upheaval that preoccupies us to this day. The lesson was clear: American interests in the Middle East were not merely impacted within the lavish palaces of ruling families, but on the streets, where combustible mixtures of religion, nationalism, resentment of the West, and pure hatred imbibed by decades of despotism could create a new sheriff with grudges to nurse and little interest in existing status quos.
Thirty plus years later a smart and charismatic young American President rightly had such hindsight in mind when he rose in Cairo, Egypt to deliver a speech both the region and the world were all ears to receive. Barack Obama faced a difficult challenge… striking the right balance between the US as honest broker with empathy for what the downtrodden face daily on overcrowded Arab avenues, and the requirements that go with being a steadfast ally to governments facing a volatile mix of competing demands. Finding elbow room to accommodate the change Arab spring foisted at breakneck speed, while accommodating the messy requisites that defined Middle Eastern politics, and all the time owning the Iraq folly still causing indigestion throughout the region. A stew of ingredients with vastly different flavor profiles.
At its heart “A New Beginning,” as the speech was titled, simply stated the obvious… US interests in the world, particularly the Middle East, reflect interplay with Islam. The differences between the West and Muslim countries shouldn’t be allowed to poison the well and predetermine a violent future. We share at least as much as divides us and should make every effort to focus on our commonality; it is to our mutual benefit.
Obama also made Israeli-Palestinian relations a priority, stating a determination to bring the full resources of his office, just like all of his predecessors since the 60s, and look for a way forward in solving one of modern history’s most intractable disputes. Obama had met with leaders of both parties immediately prior to the address and was careful to balance his remarks. It is a testament to his success that only extreme elements in each camp had sharp criticisms afterward. Israeli President Simon Peres hailed the speech as a brave step forward for peace. Even hardline Likud Prime Minister Netanyahu took pains a week later to clarify that he did indeed support a two-state solution.
On Iraq, Obama was even more careful in his oratory. While, stating he believed Iraqis benefited from a Sadaamless existence, he conceded the obvious that mistakes were made and the US wanted nothing more than an autonomous Iraq, with no American boots on the ground. That said, the timeline for full withdrawal spread all the way until 2012, conservative by any estimation. Nothing was a surprise; every word was what Obama had campaigned and easily won election on.
In the US “A New Beginning” was generally received with applause and grateful satisfaction that, after much blood and treasure, the US footprint in the region would be responsibly reduced. Obama’s oratorical gifts were celebrated, even if progressives chided him for being a bit too careful and beholden to Israel. Only one entity attacked the effort with ugly scorn and fury… Fox/AM.
Immediately the theme of surrender imbued a relentless 24/7 enterprise, day in and day out. Obama was kissing the ring of Saudis, washing the feet of Palestinians, and sticking a knife in Israel’s back. The idea Obama had created a moral equivalence between Islamic extremism and Western values became an obsessive talking point among right-wing blabbermouths, constantly shuffled among Fox/AM television and radio hosts. The blood of young American GIs was being soiled by a POTUS who for all anybody knew was a Muslim, himself. Within the panoply of nihilist disgrace, few chapters were as dishonest and seditious as the Ailes universe’s distortion of what most in the US and the world deemed a triumphant outreach. Yep, it was as low as one could go…. Until this week.
The DR has been vocal about how underwhelming a Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been. Yet and still, while he will surely never be mistaken for Jefferson or Acheson, he nonetheless possesses a platform capable of ensconsing the very worst of Trumpist mischief on the world stage. Just how bad was fully displayed in the same ancient city Obama spoke nearly a decade ago.
Where Obama orated to millions, Pompeo’s remarks pandered to an audience of one. Indeed, the MO was classic Trump… lie with breathtaking certainty, gaslight without hesitation, make a mockery of what were once unassailable boundaries of propriety, and in the end make a shambles of continuity that, until this Administration, served as the bedrock foundation for carrying out this country’s world leadership role. More than a hot mess, it was an isotopic catastrophe.
Part ceaseless diatribe against Obama, part war dance toward Iran, Pompeo had little original to say. In fact, diligent research could very well uncover he plagiarized the whole thing from various segments of Hannity or O’Reilly circa 2009 or 10’. Equating the Obama years with an era of “self-inflicted shame,” Pompeo spent much of his time pledging unflinching servitude to autocrats from the Mediterranean to the Nile to the Red Sea.
How high is the only question this Administration has for regimes that dismember reporters and fill jail cells. United against Shia is more than enough to make differences evaporate like the parched puddle that once was a desert oasis. As always with every last vestiage of this Administration, irony was an orphan during Pompeo’s disjointed sermon. In the wake of Trump’s knee jerk withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a death sentence for Kurdish allies responsible for the routing of ISIS, the SOS bemoaned the “chaos” caused by hasty withdrawal during Obama’s term. Pompeo slammed 44’s “fundamental misunderstanding” of the region.
Where Obama’s remarks dealt with fallout from the Abu Grahib disgrace and the ugly stain black sites left on American credibility, Pompeo blasted the notion America ever has anything to explain. In short, the new sheriff in town has no problem at all keeping the Arab Street down by any means necessary, today’s pauper is tomorrow’s terrorist. Better safe than sorry. When in doubt blame the mullahs…. then imprison.
Ten years ago Barack Obama was looking to turn the page on a chapter of US foreign policy most all agreed was a self-inflicted bullet to the foot, responsible for a Pandora’s Box of nasty surprises, each with its own subset of complicated issues. Today we all suffer a President with zero understanding and less concern for the infinite complexity which defines a region still claiming American lives, a war of attrition heading into its third decade. Pompeo’s shameful, near seditious, screed clarifies this Administration’s useless complacency, a vapid approach ever more concerned with satisfying the senseless particulars of a Fox/AM narrative that, incredibly, acts as braintrust for US foreign policy even as it destroys our stature on the hour.
Pompeo’s Cairo gibberish illustrates toadies not diplomats are making the rounds these days. Reflecting the ceaseless ignorance and insecurity of their boss is all they are authorized to do. Slandering past Presidents and denouncing foundational guidance for US engagement in the world is Pompeo’s stock and trade, and even if his adderall-dependent boss may not pay much attention to the chaotic inanity he demands, it’s certain the world does. The message couldn’t be more clear…. out to lunch! BC