Juan Cole: Is Paul Ryan right that Obama’s Foreign Policy is Blowing up in Our Faces?

[pampango]

Paul Ryan knows nothing about the world or foreign affairs. I presume he may have been abroad at some point somewhere. I don’t know. As is usual in American politics, however, cavernous ignorance is no bar to holding forth, if it is not in fact a qualification. After all, ignorance is compatible with untainted national chauvinism (he would say patriotism), whereas if you actually know something it is harder mindlessly to wave the flag.

But is it true that Obama’s foreign policy is ‘blowing up in our faces?’ And how could that have been prevented? Rembember, Ryan’s running mate, Mitt Romney, began calling for Hosni Mubarak to step down on Feb 1, 2011.

Is Ryan reversing that position and saying Obama should have clung to Mubarak? There are only two possibilities, Paul. If you support democratic elections, a majority will express itself democratically, and the Egyptian public might well veto US policies. If you want a puppet dictatorship, well, that might be easier said than done.

What could Obama have done to keep Mubarak in power, if that is what Ryan is advocating? Some honest journalist should ask Ryan if he believes the US government should have encouraged the Egyptian military to shoot down the Egyptian youth who were demonstrating, and how many exactly it would have been legitimate to massacre in that way.

Moreover, shooting the crowds does not work once they are already mobilized. Mohammad Reza Pahlevi tried taking the people out and shooting them on Black Friday in September of 1978, and it arguably was the nail in the coffin of his reign:

http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/is-paul-ryan-right-that-obamas-foreign-policy-is-blowing-up-in-our-faces.html

"...ignorance is compatible with untainted national chauvinism (he would say patriotism), whereas if you actually know something it is harder mindlessly to wave the flag." The use of facts and knowledge are not what the republican base are known to respond to.

"...mindlessly waving the flag" is what republicans do well, Juan. Understanding history is not something that keeps them awake at night.

If Ryan is actually implying that Obama should have leaned on the Egyptian military to open fire on civilian protesters he should say so. And if that is his opinion he has no right to criticize Assad for doing the same in Syria. If he thinks that dictators have a 'divine right' to use the army against the people in order to stay in power, he should say so.

[tanyev]

1. According to Monica Crowley, Mubarak and Moammar Qaddafi are key U.S. allies,

I guess she's forgiven Qaddafi for that whole "mad dog of the Middle East" thing.