War! What is it Good For?

War! What is it Good For? (10/19/2011)

I have been traveling lately so my ability to tune to the news has been limited. However, it appears the United States is currently in the process of creating another “Gulf of Tonkin” event to justify an attack on a sovereign nation. It is hard for me to believe I would make such an accusation, but history repeats itself and desperate politicians will do anything to maintain their power. Let’s take a quick look at the facts.

First, President Obama continues to slide week after week in the public opinion polls. His own party is currently turning against him and with regularity Hilary Clinton’s name is floated, via trial balloons, as a possible nominee or Biden replacement. This is a President, and party, who cannot accept the downward slide and has been working toward re-election, not governance, since January 2009.

Second, the administration has lost control of several stories and will use diversions to deflect the outcome – a classic maneuver confirmed by Hollywood in the movie “Wag the Dog.” Today the administration is being investigated for two significant, impeachable events: “Fast and Furious” and “Solyandra.” The diversion playbook is far easier to play from than truthful acceptance of responsibility.

Third, questions are currently rising around the alleged plot to kill the Saudi envoy to Washington. Additionally, the world does not recognize the right of the sovereign nation of Iran, a former war ally, to build its own nuclear program. Senator Diane Feinstein over the weekend affirmed her own skepticism regarding the plot by the Mexican used-car dealer to assassinate the Saudi; however she feels after her intelligence briefing there is a case. She did continue to comment this is not the time for war with Iran and America appears to be on an unavoidable collision course.

Personally, I believe Ahmadinejad to be a ruthless dictator who should not possess nuclear weapons. However, we must draw a line and avoid a possible fifth war (Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Libya) as an attack on Iran has the potential to escalate to a nuclear event. President Obama has assured the world Iran would face the “toughest possible sanctions” for its part in the assassination plot. I suggest if there were no personal gain for his administration the President would back-channel his responses and leave pleas for public opinion out of the spotlight; quiet and decisive action is more effective than loud self-serving posturing. “War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin’!” – Norman Whitfield.