To a casual observer our foreign policy is in shambles and in the Arab Spring we are being lapped daily if not hourly by events we seem not to understand, predict or know how to respond even if only a knee jerk. Obama decides Khadafi must go then departs, then warns we will use all force to protect civilians but not ground troops, and after cruise orchestra tries to unload command and control to the French and Brits. Ali in Yemen is killing civilians left and right and is probably a stronger supported of Al-Quaida, but we do nothing. Libya has oil the West needs and Yemen has sorghum which the West does not. If Obama does not have the skills to manage foreign policy and military matters when will the lights go on so he will augment his team? An Iambic commentary:
The Sands of Confusion
It is a tale of two nations and so easy to become confused
In one, we support the leader with unbridled enthuse
In the other, Obama tells him it is time for him to go
Then leaves from the sound bite stage
Sure enough his jets and tanks act in unchecked rage
Too late cruise missiles descend in a mini fireworks show
We support Yemen’s leader when his military will not
Hard to be a general when civilians keep getting shot
One leader holds al-Quaida in great distaste
The other cheered when Hussein put Kuwait to waste
True, in revenge, one leader brought down a Pan Am jet to the turf
But the other stood aside as the Cole suicide skiff went plying through the surf
Yet Ali we support as his generals bail
And Mouammar we subject to the cruise missiles’ hail
Now Mouammar sits on huge pools of oil,
While for Ali the lands yields little no matter the toil
Do we have any idea of the rationale for courses we take?
Whether under missiles or civilian protest the sands of both quiver and shake?
Is Ella live or is it Memorex as the glass quickly shatters
Is it oil or do our principles really matter?
Hard to tell but sand shifts and can become very quick
Bogging us down like a rerun of a sick, bloody Vietnam flick
(c) March 22, 2011 Michael P. Ridley
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