The Obama Doctrine
Obama says India can whack Paks, if that’s where the investigation goes.* Sovereign nations and all. That’s how the Times of India is reading it:
WASHINGTON: Sovereign nations have the right to protect themselves, US president-elect Barack Obama said on Monday, when asked if India could follow the same policy he advocated during his election campaign — of bombing terrorist camps in Pakistan if there was actionable evidence and Islamabad refused to act on it.
Although Obama said he did not want to comment on the specific situation involving India and Pakistan, his tacit endorsement of New Delhi adopting the same policy was circumscribed by two caveats: first, let the investigators reach definite conclusions about the Mumbai carnage, and second, see if Pakistan will follow through with its commitment to cooperate in eliminating terrorism.
”My administration will remain steadfast in support of India’s effort to catch perpetrators and bring them to justice. I expect the world community will feel the same way,” Obama said, in one of several references to the events in Mumbai that underscored the roll-out of his national security team in Chicago on Monday.
You’re either with us or you’re against us. I don’t know anyone ever nailed down what the Bush doctrine was. But I’m pretty sure a sovereign right to self defense, seeking out the terrorists wherever they are, and holding nations that harbor terrorists accountable was part of it. I sure hope India’s intelligence isn’t bad, if they follow up on Obama’s advice. Especially since it could lead to the world’s first third-world nuclear war. Or the collapse of democracy and rise of Islamic extremism. Here’s the thing about Pakistan. Overtly siding with India may well play into the hands of ISI’s Islamists and traditional Pak Cold Warriors in the military. It’s a delicate game.
Don’t worry, Obama isn’t making policy yet. Just shooting his mouth off like some kind of cowboy.
Obama reiterated his stand that there was only one president at a time in the U.S as he trod a delicate line in setting any new policy. But he appreciated the actions taken by the Bush administration and keeping him informed about it. ”What I can say unequivocally is that both myself and my team are absolutely committed to eliminating terrorism,” he said. ”We cannot tolerate attacks based on twisted ideology of hate…we will bring the full force of our military, economic and diplomatic power to defeat this. I will be monitoring the situation closely.”
Yee ha! Kumbayah, my ass. Sounds almost like TOI could have reported ”Obama: We’ll whack the Paks” rather than that he just gave India the go-ahead.
I don’t know that we can tell from this what the Obama doctrine is going to be, seeing how dramatically he’s shifted in just a few short weeks. But you’ve gotta admit, he’s sounding more and more like a Cheney Bushitlerite every day. They were very intolerant of the ideology of hate, very big on bringing the full force of military, economic and diplomatic power to bear, if not necessarily in that order. A new cowboy outfit doesn’t make you a cowboy, though. I sure hope Obama knows how to ride that pony.
And lasso this dogie: The trouble with Iran, and some thoughts on how to rope in the mullahs short of a full rodeo, by Sen. John Kyl at RealClearWorld.
US Naval War College’s Gvosdev at National Interest: Carter’s Heir? Team of rivals, paralysis or a foreign policy of independently operating parts?
Forget guns, butter, big sticks, soft speech. Some people look at Obama’s Hill appointment and see breasts. Boston Globe: Activists expect Clinton to propel women’s rights. Hey, Bush did that in Afghanistan. With bombs. Jihadis there and elsewhere remain an obstacle to progress, however.
Back to the business at hand.
via Yahoo: India demands Paks hand over 20 top terror suspects, take “strong action.” Condi enroute.
More backstory on Mumbai/ISI/AQ/India dynamics, via Threatswatch, posits a small-scale ISI Kashmir operation was hijacked, shifted and expanded. Schippert notes, ” … the law of unintended consequences holds little acquittal when leaders play with the fire of terrorism.”
Daniel Benjamin at Slate: Democratic Pakistan was a target of the Islamic extremists in Mumbai, too.
Frank Schell at Far East Economic Review: Softly softly.
The Bush and incoming Obama administration should do all they can to make sure that cooler heads prevail in New Delhi and Islamabad at this dangerous time. There is an opportunity here—for India to engage Pakistan to root out terrorist havens and training camps on Pakistani soil and for the U.S. to serve as a partner and honest broker between the two. If this does not happen, and India-Pakistan relations deteriorate further, the terrorists will have achieved one of their key goals.
Blake Hounshell at Foreign Policy’s Passport: Obama’s First Gaffe? (I think that’s being charitable, but I guess he means since the election … ) Notes that, despite TOI’s characterization, Obama did not specifically say, “India, you have my blessing to go bomb Pakistan.” Does not note, however, that he might as well have as far as the Indians and Paks are concerned, by overtly siding with India and greenlighting sovereign acts of self-defense.
Robert Kagan at WPost: Internationalize the response!
Outside the Beltway: Because that’s worked so well! How about Bushizing the international response.
Newsbusters, MSNBC anchor frets over terrorists’ failure to hear the Kumbayah overture. Don’t they know we care why they hate us?
With thanks to Memeorandum and RealClearWorld on the roundup.
Welcome Punditeers, it’s a pleasure to see you coming in on this one a month after the fact. If policy is your thing, you may want to look at this call for 10,000 Geeks and a new Big-Cave Neanderthalism. OK, back to the Obama Doctrine, whatever that is. Fortunately, to date, it looks a lot like the Bush Doctrine. Whatever that was. Here’s “War To The Bitter End”, today’s reflection on the Obama Doctrine. Whatever the heck that is.
* At last check, the investigation pointed to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist group with a long history of ISI support that operates openly in Pakistan.
Topics: Bush, Obama, Pakistan, india
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:53 am on Tuesday, December 2, 2008
4 Responses to “The Obama Doctrine”
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December 2nd, 2008 at 10:46 am
“..a new cowboy outfit doesn’t make you a cowboy..”
Those danged rhinstones are sure lookin’ swell, though, Podna. Grrrrrrrrr….!
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Nah, he’s still lame. “Bring them to justice”? How about “track down and kill like dogs”?
As far as I’m concerned, the only thing to do with terrorists is shoot them on the spot.
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Justice = Room temperature.
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 am
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