Obama, Mugged y the Reality of the Bush Doctrine...

polifrog



This past March I wrote the following in the wake of the US invasion of Libya:

Going forward Obama will be forced down another predetermined path. He will direct the US to help install a democracy in Libya. If he fails to do so his invasion of Libya will be seen as a failure.

Some presidents engineer events as Bush did through the Bush Doctrine, while others are lead by events. In this case Obama is being lead by the ongoing forces of the Bush Doctrine.

It leaves one to wonder, though, did Bush create the Bush Doctrine or was it simply his only choice?

This past week Obama delivered another Middle East speech. In it he outlined the American path going forward in that region.

Let me be specific. It will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region, and to support transitions to democracy.

Yes, this. First, is the Bush Doctrine ... democratization. And for proof of concept Obama points to ... Iraq?

In Iraq, we see the promise of a multiethnic, multisectarian democracy. There, the Iraqi people have rejected the perils of political violence for a democratic process . . . Iraq is poised to play a key role in the region.

...

We have a stake not just in the stability of nations, but in the self-determination of individuals.

And with the Bush Doctrine again firmly defining American actions in the Middle East Obama turns to Assad of Syria:

President Assad now has a choice: he can lead that transition [to democracy], or get out of the way.

Obama ran against the Bush Doctrine during his campaign. He is now the driving force behind the Bush Doctrine. Obama, lead by world events rather than leading them, has been mugged by the reality of those world events.





[Edited for clarity due to a mistaken drag and drop.]

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