Middle East: Discussion

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[url="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-turn/2011/02/one_can_scarcely_imagine_how.html"]Obama ignored by Mubarak -- again[/url]

More important, what does the administration do now? We've wagged fingers and stamped feet but to no avail. There is no sign Obama has a back-up plan. And now the danger mounts. Former State Department official Christian Whiton writes:



So far, President Obama has failed the test of presidential leadership during the revolution. He seems unable or unwilling to articulate U.S. interests, much less how to use the tools of government to advance them. It is not too late for him to change course. But until he does this, his actions are making the worst-case scenario of an Islamist Egypt more likely.



The major challenges that confront Obama -- job creation, Middle East unrest, fiscal discipline -- [color="#FF0000"]all appear to be above his pay grade[/color]. His words are of limited and diminishing utility. And the distinguishing characteristic of this administration is now confusion. As Iran did to Jimmy Carter, Egypt's crisis now threatens to subsume the rest of the agenda. And even worse (as the gulf oil spill did), it may come to symbolize a presidency that lacks the skill and insight needed to manage a crisis and shape events.

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