Africa Could Become a Headache for America

There are several situations in Africa today which are not comfortable for America.

First, President Obama has sent 100 ground combat troops into Uganda to help sort out a vicious battle raging there between warring factions. As Senator John McCain put it earlier today, there is good reason to try to find ways to help in areas of the world where wanton killing is ongoing. But, before jumping in, this President, or any President, should do two things - explain what and why to the American people, and do the same with Congress. McCain said that we ought to have learned from Somalia (Mogadishu) that US troops on the ground in the middle of a civil war can end disastrously. And, Senator McCain could have added that 100 US ground combat troops sent into a civil war anywhere in the world will surely be followed by more, or withdrawn with no positive effect having been achieved.

Once more, President Obama has jumped from the frying pan into the fire without talking to Congress, without explaining the situation to the American people who elected him, and with no prior warning in the media or otherwise.

Second, there is the Iranian plot to kill the Saudi Ambassador in Washington. Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN, has held a face-to-face meeting with the Iranian Ambassador to the UN in New York. The meeting was arranged by the Swiss Ambassador to Iran, who is the representative of American interests in Iran since the US has no diplomatic relations with Teheran. According to Rice’s office, the meeting’s sole purpose was to tell Iran that America will not let this affair go away without making Iran pay. Now, it seems to me that if the Iran regime can read or hear, it already knows this, in as much as the news is being broadcast all over the world in almost every language. Why was the meeting held? My guess is that we do not know…yet. But, if I were cynical, I’d have to guess that it had something to do with Syria or Israel or the two, and that the Saudi Ambassador plot was a cover.

Third, the president of the Tunisian TV system had his house fire-bombed and his family was rescued at the last minute, but are safe. Why? Because extremist Islamists were unhappy with the fact that the network president telecast Persepolis, a rather unflattering animated film about life in Iran today. The extremists are now calling for the network to be dismantled and re-constituted. So, if we thought that things were going smoothly in the Tunisian Arab Spring, perhaps we had better think again. And, while we are re-thinking, we can add the situation in Egypt to that list of faltering revolutions which may be headed to the right politically as the Arab Spring could be turning into a political nuclear winter.