The administration's greatest weakness was failing to realize that inaction was also policy. Not doing something could also be "stupid shit" and passivity was no protection from landing ass backwards in a quagmire.
Robert Kagan adds in the Wall Street Journal,
...The multisided war in the Middle East has now ceased to be a strictly Middle Eastern problem. It has become a European problem as well. ... The spillover of the Middle East crisis into this weakened Europe threatens to undermine the continent’s cohesion and sap the strength of trans-Atlantic ties. ...Read more here.
There is a Russian angle, too. Many of these parties, and even some mainstream political movements across the continent, are funded by Russia and make little secret of their affinity for Moscow. ...
Where does the U.S. fit into all this? The Europeans no longer know, any more than American allies in the Middle East do....
The president has also been inclined to reject options that don’t promise to “solve” the problems of Syria, Iraq and the Middle East. He doesn’t want to send troops only to put “a lid on things.”
In this respect, he is entranced, like most Americans, by the image of the decisive engagement followed by the victorious return home. But that happy picture is a myth. Even after the iconic American victory in World War II, the U.S. didn’t come home. Keeping a lid on things is exactly what the U.S. has done these past 70 years. That is how the U.S. created this liberal world order.
Fernandez concludes,
The most lasting contribution of Barack Obama to history may be to retire the phrase "Vietnam syndrome" from the lexicon and replace it with a single new word: in future years to completely tie yourself in knots will be to "Obama" something. It's a genuine claim to fame though perhaps not quite the immortality the administration hoped it would be remembered for.Read more here.
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