President Obama's Middle East strategy has backfired. What do you think of this assessment?

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Sat, 30 May 2015 06:50:57 -0400

The fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi to the Islamic State and recent gains by the group in Syria are the latest signs that President Obama’s strategy to defeat this brutal terrorist group is failing. But the problem is far bigger than that. The president’s entire approach to the Middle East has backfired.

The Middle East is more dangerous and unstable than when Obama came into office — a time when Iraq and Syria were more stable, the Iranian nuclear program was considerably less advanced and the Islamic State did not yet exist.

Much of this instability is a result of Obama’s disengagement from the region, best symbolized by the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011. The vacuum created by America’s pullback has been filled by bad actors, including terrorist extremists, both Sunni and Shiite, who have flourished in the absence of U.S. leadership.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/marco-rubio-obamas-mideast-plan-has-backfired/2015/05/29/247c7c90-0606-11e5-bc72-f3e16bf50bb6_story.html?hpid=z5

Marco Rubio: Obama’s strategy for the Middle East has backfired

Much of the region’s instability is the result of the president’s disengagement.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made May 30 at 2015 7:05 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 30 May 2015 07:05:58 -0400

Simply, it hasn't failed. The US is still standing, in good condition. POTUS obviously is trying to keep many balls in the air at once; no large-scale conventional intervention, let Arabs solve an Arab problem, keep major military operations as a last resort (as it should be), be wary of the next election, etc. "Failed" is too strong.

Response by SPC Don Stringer made May 30 at 2015 7:46 AM

SPC Don Stringer — Sat, 30 May 2015 07:46:55 -0400

President Obama's Mid East Policy would appear to be a failure, if one were to assume he actually meant it to be a success, and one assumed his goal was in our National interests. With more and more evidence coming out every day that the President and Secretary of State Clinton having aided ISIS, even armed them, as well as allowed them to retake much of Iraq, Syria and Libya, I would say his policy was to damage our interests, jeopardize Israel, arm Iran with nuclear weapons, all in effort to undermine our security and position as a world leader. He has been a smashing success, by those standards.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made May 30 at 2015 8:06 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Sat, 30 May 2015 08:06:04 -0400

The man's whole administration has "backfired" why nitpick?

Response by PO3 David Fries made May 30 at 2015 8:30 AM

PO3 David Fries — Sat, 30 May 2015 08:30:43 -0400

Personally I think we withdrew too early. Of course that being said, with things going the way they were, we could have been stuck there forever.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made May 30 at 2015 8:59 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Sat, 30 May 2015 08:59:18 -0400

One thing I will say, just look at history and see how many plans have gone wrong. See how many invaders/occupiers, what ever you want to call them have failed in the middle east! If it was me and I had my way, I'd build a giant fence around the middle east - no one in, no one out, just let them duke it out, then maybe the rest of us could have some peace!

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made May 30 at 2015 9:26 AM

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Sat, 30 May 2015 09:26:30 -0400

From studying the middle-east and reading history ..
Nothing "Works" in the middle-east except complete and total suppression (eg. Saddam Hussein).
The only recent period it time there was relative peace was when we were paying off the Sons of Iraq.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 30 at 2015 10:44 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 30 May 2015 10:44:02 -0400

We haven't just disengaged. We destabilized the whole area by deposing Gaddafi, standing on the sidelines during the Arab Spring, drawing "red lines" that weren't, abandoning and antagonizing long-term allies, seeking rapproachment with long-term enemies, launching sort of airstrikes, watching ISIS take over the area with vapid disinterest, watching Yemen fall to rebels...
What exactly is our policy in the Middle East? I don't think anyone knows, including the Commander-in-Chief.

Response by SSG James Arlington made May 30 at 2015 11:50 AM

SSG James Arlington — Sat, 30 May 2015 11:50:09 -0400

Let them fight it out, their cultural/religious war. We should see who is standing in the ashes when its all over. Sell some nukes to the Israels.