ARTICLE: Tehran Pushes To Join Central Asian Alliance, By David R. Sands, The Washington Times, April 2, 2008, Pg. 11
Inevitable and fine. We can't work Iran in the absence of connectivity, and if we won't provide, others should. CentCom should have a real relationship with the SCO, all of whom will--in many ways--end up with more long-time influence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. Their neck of the woods: right for them to stick necks out, too.
The "Iran is meddling in Iraq" pitch (growing yet again) is U.S. hypocrisy at its least inventive. Duh! It's right next door and America's trying to remake the government, using a large occupational force as lever.
Please, no calling the kettle black. Realize that China, Iran and Russia are countries now winning the infrastructure contracts in Iraq. They were going to be your partners all along anyway--like it or not.
Being unrealistic about the postwar is not leadership, it's the abdication of the same. And being unrealistic this late (5 years!) is unforgivably stupid in a strategic sense, because we continue to make American troops fight under the worst possible strategic circumstances.
| Permalink |
Comments (7)
Have you heard anything, of why the US's last attempt to join the SCO as an observer failed?
Posted by dan tdaxp
|
April 17, 2008 8:12 AM
I couldn't agree with you more.look, what US needs to do,is be honest about it and say,yes it is about energy (oil,gas,...) and instead of show off its militery power(Iraq was a proof of its failure)
show its willingness to work with these countries and help building
thier infrastructure,thier economies,give them technologies needed
for that,than you see a US,pretty much ahead in competing with others(like Russia,China,..)for that energy.it seems crusal for US at
this junction specially,if we are to avoid the 1920's economic hardship.we have to act like a good big brother,and let go of trying
to boss the world!.
Posted by farhad | April 17, 2008 8:42 AM
Your points are well taken, Dr. Barnett - the pot calling the kettle black. We need allies in the region and the predictable ones are stepping up for the reconstruction contracts, including China. But do we need Iran in there too?
Supporting the big bang Bush created in the Islamic world, in Iraq, because it is about freedom, women's liberation and energy stability ... it seems your point is only about the worst strategic position our troops could be in.
Does this mean we need more smoking holes so the 2nd half System Administrator force (which does not yet exist) could do it's job? Or does this mean the withdrawal the Democrats keep promising, to get our troops out of this strategic mess, is the right course now? How do we build the 2nd half force with volunteers under the current political climate at home, with the facts on the ground in Iraq? No easy fixes ...
Run for President, Tom. Raise your profile nationally. Then you may get the Sect. of Everything Else post you should be managing, if not the presidency.
Posted by VoteWithTroops | April 19, 2008 7:55 AM
Dr. Barnett should become a contributing military analyst on the cable news channels to raise his national profile and get out his Dept of Everything Else / 2nd half force message.
Call them up Tom, get on the networks and cable channels. C-SPAN is great but most Americans don't watch it.
Posted by VoteWithTroops | April 19, 2008 7:59 AM
I was not aware of this, Dan. But would be interested to hear more.
Posted by Tom Barnett | April 19, 2008 4:02 PM
I was listening to Gordon Brown speak at The JFK Musuem on C-Span the other day. His themes were the challenges societies were facing due to globalization, the need for the world community to help failed states, multilaterism,engagement...many of the topics you speak of regularly. The word is getting out, the thinking is evolving. Raising your profile to include the more popular cable news shows would be more bad than good. Lou Dobbs and the like would label you the next anti-Christ, political polarization would occur and people who are open to your ideas may shut their doors due to politics.
Posted by Jeff J | April 20, 2008 6:40 AM
Tom,
Wish I knew more. There's reference to (multiple?) failed attempts of the US to join SCO as an observer, from New Republic [1], The Guardian [2], and what appears to be sworn testimony [3].
[1] http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/070430shanghai.htm
[2] http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/dilip_hiro/2006/06/shanghai_surprise.html
[3] http://www.uscc.gov/hearings/2006hearings/transcripts/aug_3_4/testimony_ariel_cohen.pdf
Posted by dan tdaxp
|
April 20, 2008 9:09 PM