The good news is under the leadership of President Barack Hussein Obama, this nation’s global stature has increased dramatically.
The bad news is this nation is Iran.
President Obama previously told Iran’s terrorist-supporting regime “if you like your current nuclear program, you can keep it.” Last week he all but told the Iranians “if you like our new Iraq, you can have it.”
By urging “Iraq’s neighbors” (see that as Iran) to bear at least some of the responsibility for squashing the Al Qaeda-inspired rebellion against Iraq’s fledgling government, the President of these United States continues to elevate the legitimacy of the enemy regime in Iran for reasons known only to Allah.
Of course, the Iranians have gotten the message they’re now at the big boy table loud and clear.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani proudly says his country is ready to help Iraq because — get this — Iran has “no option but to confront terrorism.” You can’t make this stuff up. They may hate Israel in Tehran, but even the politicians there embody a good Yiddish word like “chutzpah.”
Rouhani even went so far as to say his military would be willing to serve alongside the United States should it come to that: “When the U.S. takes action against the militants, then one can think about cooperation.”
Right, because that’s what every American parent hopes for their children. That they would grow up, join the military, and fight and die alongside those pledged to impose, enforce, and defend the Shariah law found within Iran’s constitution. When I was a kid, Democrats held hearings to criticize a Republican administration that was thought to have exchanged “arms for hostages” with Iran. Now this Democratic president is asking Iran to clean up the mess he helped to make. Those Democrats sure do like to evolve.
The Iranians are happy to oblige.
After fighting the longest conventional war of the 20th century with Iraq in the 1980s, Iran has been cozying up to its neighbor ever since we toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Iran’s goal was to cultivate a friendly, Shia Islam influence within a rival previously dominated by Saddam’s Sunni Islam Baath Party. President Obama was preemptively warned Iraq could potentially become an Iranian satellite country once we pulled out. Now that seems like the “better” option. The other being a straight-up caliphate if the al Qaeda-affiliated insurgency gets its way.
As Iraq further descends into chaos, the American people are left pondering the question of whether our hefty investment of human and financial resources there was worth it. Sadly, none of the potential answers are satisfying.
No one can argue the world isn’t a better place without a Saddam Hussein, but with an estimated half million Christians now fleeing the country, and the countryside an “orgy” of beheadings (according to one media report), it appears Iraq’s singular tyrant could be replaced by a fleet of wannabes. That is, unless Iran, of all people, becomes the … ahem … peacemaker here.
When the fate of your world even somewhat hinges on the clear-thinking and good intentions of the ayatollahs in Iran, your world is a very dangerous place indeed. Yet this is the brave new world without American Exceptionalism our president has gotten us into.
A world where Vladimir Putin goes from the globe’s foremost gangster to a bold statesman hosting the Olympics. A world where the Taliban’s “dream team” goes free in exchange for one military deserter. A world where Canada is now home to the world’s most prosperous middle class. A world where Iran’s terrorist regime is now taken seriously in statecraft.
So as our president naps and goes golfing (again) while the government we bled to install burns, Iran steps up to play the role of savior and perhaps inherit the spoils of our war. A governing body in Iraq closer to Iran not just in terms of geography, but also sympathy. A governing body in Iraq that sees the United States as its deadbeat dad but sees Iran as its former sibling rival turned big brother taking Iraq under its wing. When before we could at least play the tensions between Baghdad and Tehran off of one another to avoid either dominating the region, they’re now bosom buddies.
In Obama world, villains like Iran go legit, but not because they’ve had a change of heart and been redeemed. Rather, our leadership lacks the vision, wisdom, and courage required of a superpower, so our adversaries seize the opportunity to take advantage of the presidential equivalent of a substitute teacher. We need a Marshall Dillon in the White House right now, but instead we’ve got Barney Fife minus his one bullet.
Thank goodness we’ve got Iran standing by to step up and provide stability — said no one ever. Until this White House.
(Steve Deace is a nationally-syndicated talk show host and the author of “Rules for Patriots: How Conservatives Can Win Again.” You can follow him on Twitter @SteveDeaceShow.)
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