We Just Lost the Initiative.....

In my previous post I floated the notion of the U.S. recognizing an independent Kurdish state and bemoaned the fact that in political and diplomatic circles (and lets throw in the pundit class in this since they are as culpable as the politicians and policies they pontificate on) this idea is not receiving any real consideration. So why is that?   Simple, U.S. foreign policy is thought of, by the political class, as a linear thought process with the starting point being one presidential election and ending when administrations change. Instead, for an effective foreign policy, one needs to think of it as a network with synapses building linkages across seemingly dissimilar issues. The political class cannot fathom foreign policy as something other than an election soundbite. Let's take a look: September 11th hits and President Bush strives to dislodge Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan through a military operation. The military overwhelms the Taliban regime, dislodges the Taliban and A...

Ahhh...government, the bane of rationale thought (or at least in this time period in the United States). And when it comes to foreign policy.....hell what am I saying there is no coherent foreign policy and both Republicans and Democrats are to blame. For the politicians it is about the sound bite, the next campaign. Very few of these "august leaders" have the balls to take a controversial position and propose some outside the box thinking. Let's take the current situation in Iraq and Syria as an example. We have a rogue inter-state within parts of Syria and Iraq. The Islamic State (IS) has made great strides in conquering territory and driving those who do not ascribe to their ultra-orthodox Islamic vision from their homes and in significant numbers into a grave. So what is our response, limited bombing to relieve the humanitarian crisis on Mount Sinjar and establish a corridor for the Yazidis to escape into Kurd held territory.  Lately there is discussions of sending ...