The US in the Middle East—Impotence

For John, BLUF:  In the Middle East:  It's Not About Us.

I am a little slow in posting this piece by Mr Michael A Cohen in Foreign Policy.  Mr Cohen is a Democratic Party type, but this is pretty even handed.  Here is the end of the article:

That's a message you're not going to hear on the campaign trail.  Republicans will keep on insisting that Obama should be do more and Obama officials will insist that their policies for the region are working in shaping positive outcomes.

But don't believe a word of it.  We're more impotent then we think and the sooner we realize it, the better our foreign policy will be.

What this really means is that we need new ideas and a public that will support learning and experimenting.

Regards  —  Cliff