Amateur Hour at the White House

It numbs the mind to think that President Obama actually is negotiating the surrender of 35+ years of consistent American foreign policy vis-à-vis Iran to the extremist Iranian government that brutally put down a massive Egyptian style uprising in 2009. The Mullahs of Iran have the blood of Americans, Syrians, Kurds, Argentinians, Lebanese, Syrians, Israelis, Iraqis, British – as well as thousands of other innocent civilians on their hands. They have financed and inspired countless other terrorist entities like Hezbollah who are slaughtering hundreds of Syrians as I type this letter. President Obama won the NOBEL PRIZE and now he is aligning himself with a brutal regime on par with North Korea and China!! That doesn't sound so liberal to me.

The Obama apologists justify “negotiating” with Iran using a term called “silo” diplomacy: They consider each Iranian offense separately so as not to prejudice the outcome of a “negotiation”. This is nothing but diplomatic double-talk. Can anyone picture Roosevelt or Churchill endlessly negotiated an arms pact (that they knew wasn’t going anywhere) with the Nazis while they were marching through Europe and bombing London?

There is no doubt that America is war weary from Afghanistan and Iraq, but there are other options than surrendering American values and abandoning American allies in the Mid-East. We have immense resources political, economic and military resources that could make a huge difference in the outcome of the region. Instead, we have President Hell bent on retreating and acting as if America is an impotent power on par with a South American banana republic. To make matters worse, Secretary of State Kerry seems to be improvising “off-the-cuff diplomacy” to the point that you would think he was auditioning for Saturday Night Live. This is what you get when you put amateurs with no experience in office.

Obama's domestic and foriegn policy has made the U.S.A and the world more unstable and unsafe

Once again, President Obama has lied, but this time to Israel and America’s other allies in the Mideast. President Obama has stated, on more than one occasion, that the USA “has Israel’s back”, will  “not let Iran develop a nuclear bomb” and that Israel reserves the right to protect itself from Iran or Iran’s surrogates Hezbollah and Hamas – as a sovereign country in a violent and unstable area of the world. 

The last 2 months have reveled a dramatic shift in President Obama’s Mideast foreign policy strategy. He has now engaged in direct talks with Iran and is actively working to independently rush through a nuclear agreement with Iran that is in direct violation of US Security Council resolutions – and will allow Iran to maintain all the components of a nuclear arsenal to be assembled whenever they choose.  Of course, any international nuclear treaty with Iran would in essence tie Israel’s hands from using a military option against Iran – which seems to be Obama’s objective. Now, if Israel attacks Iran, Obama can blame Israel for violating the agreement, which Israel was not party to in the first place. These is a deliberate strategy on the part of Obama to tie-up Israel’s military option and delegitimize Israel if they have the gumption to go ahead an use the military option.

Obama’s foreign policy pivot - abandoning the Mideast in favor of shifting U.S. military assets to Asia has created distrust of his motives among traditional allies – Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE – who believe he is actively working against them in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran.

This has left Egypt, a traditional ally to initiate an extensive mutual military agreement with the Russians that includes a naval port and billions in sophisticated military hardware – paid for by Saudi Arabia.

The world has become more dangerous due to President Obama,  and the lack of traditional U.S. leadership. His Mideast strategy is no more thought out than Obamacare – both of which are causing unintended negative consequences that are making our country and the world a more unstable and unsafe place.

New York Times gets it wrong again in backing Obama's atttempt to let Iran become a Nuclear Power

The NYT 11/11 editorial entitled “Iran Nuclear Talks: Unfinished, but Alive” was not unexpected in it’s analysis of the P5+1 and Iran nuclear negotiations. While I understand that the NYT has positioned itself as the voice of liberalism in America, and will defend and promote President Obama’s hap hazard social and foreign policy agenda - the sophistic argument laid out in your editorial would have been considered “malpractice” in the medical world.

President Obama and John Kerry are “rushing” to sign ANY document that would in essence tie Israel’s hand in mounting a defensive war against a brutal regime that has been at war with Israel since 1972 through it’s proxies – and has on more than one occasion said they would wipe Israel off the map.

The result of President Obama “resetting” 30 years of U.S. Mideast policy is that all of our allies there now don’t trust America under Obama. He has lost total credibility and I totally understand it. Obama threw Egyptian President Mubarak under the bus, lied about his red line in Syria and agreed to a papered over WMD agreement with Russia that has fallen apart (and looked like Swiss cheese from the start) as thousand more Syrians are brutally murdered. Now Obama wants to legitimize Israel’s greatest threat without Israel as party to the agreement – and instead must “take Kerry’s word” that Obama has their back.

The NYT stated that Israeli President Netanyahu should wait to see the agreement before criticizing it. On the contrary, there should be no agreement without Israel being party to the agreement and at the table BEFORE it is signed. It is obvious that Obama is trying to rush to sign this document for three reasons: Polish his tarnished foreign policy image after the disastrous Syria/Benghazi missteps, pressure Israel from attacking Iran before Iran goes online, and most importantly to delegitimize Israel in the event they do have to attack.

America is comfortably oceans away from Iran, with the largest and most technical logically advanced military on earth.  Iran does not pose an immediate threat to the USA, so making agreements – even BAD agreements – does not have existential consequences. On the other hand, Europe, Africa and the rest of the Mideast have a different perspective – close enough proximity to be threatened.

The loose, but vocal alliance between Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Arab countries should be a wake up call for the world: When Jews and Arabs unite against a common foe – especially a foe who has killed thousands at home, and hundreds of thousands in Syria – the world should take notice. Obviously, Obama wants his trophy agreement – an agreement that I hope this alliance will not let happen in their part of the world.

A Brother's Eulogy For His Sister

October 14, 2013

The discovery that Gayle Fargotstein, my sister, had died October 8^th, 2013, has obviously unleashed a torrent of emotions among my fellow siblings, and each of us has our own way of dealing with not just her death and the way she died, but also with the way she lived her life - and how we reacted to her.

I loved Gayle very much, but she was not a person who was easy to love, and I could only love her at a distance. I can’t help but wonder how Gayle’s life (and Esta’s) might have been different had she not moved in with Esta – how all our lives might have been different. I wonder how Max and Esta - if they were looking down at the entire life of Gayle, would react to this last chapter of her life. How would they judge her - and how would they judge us? How would they judge themselves? Each of us will have to live with those unanswered questions. 

Gayle (and Esta) helped Kay and I get through our divorce by helping us with David, Sam and Molly. They would pick them up at school, feed them snacks and helped us mold them into the fine adults that they are today.  I have no doubt that whatever benefit my children got from being with Gayle, she received and equal amount of joy from their company, and truly loved them with all her heart – as if they were her own at times. Gayle, I will always be grateful to you for this, and my kids are grieving deeply over your death.

Looking forward there are lessons that I hope my siblings, kids and friends take to heart from the death of Gayle. Going forward we need to appreciate each other in a different light, and realize that we don’t have to win every argument between us. We need to end each conversation on a good note - because there is a possibility that it may be the last conversation we ever have together.

With all that said, destiny has a huge part in where life takes us, but we do have choices in our life, choices that can influence destiny. The concept of “family” (especially in a Jewish family) is traditionally extremely close, which is at odds with the societal demographic changes in America. Siblings live in different cities, connected by cell phones, the Internet or Facebook - instead of closely together in the same city, neighborhood or house. You have to invest in a relationship to maintain it, and a hug is so much more intimate than a cell phone call. I pray that my fellow siblings will remain close in the future, and also that the many nieces and nephews will learn from Gayle’s life and make the effort to maintain a close extended family far, far into the future.

Even though we bury Gayle today, her memory lives on in the family and all of the nieces and nephews who loved her. May she find the peace in death that she found so hard to find on earth.

Very Sincerely,

Shep Fargotstein

America has suffered enough damage from Obama’s amateurish Preisdency.

The idea promoted by President Obama and his supporters that the tentative agreement with Syria/Russia to consolidate and destroy Assad’s chemical weapons is a “breakthrough” in arms control and validates the threat of force is a deliberate dishonest attempt to misrepresent the facts to the American public.

Because there is a war on the ground in Syria and because President Obama gave Assad months to hide his chemical weapons, there is no way we will get anywhere near 100% of these weapons. Look at Libya. Years later we are still looking for his hidden chemical weapons. There is no debate that it would take thousands of trained workers and years to accomplish anything near a thorough search of the entire country. Meanwhile, Obama the “Nobel Prize Winner” leaves Assad in power to continue the slaughter of his people.

The most ridiculous of Obama’s claims is that the threat of force he used in amassing the fleet of Navy assets is what brought Syria “to it’s knees” and henceforth agreed to surrendering their weapons. That, once again, is a half-truth. Yes, the military armada was definitely a wake-up call for Assad and the Russians. In fact the Russians were evacuating their citizens and military all the way up until Obama got cold feet and went to Congress to avoid making a decision that was well within his right as President.

Now America’s primary, most vital and peaceful line of defense – the concept that America will use it’s military to back up its rhetoric is now no longer a deterrent to our enemies. Our enemies know now that our President has no stomach for even a “shot over the bow”, much less a serious military intervention. Our enemies know, like many American are just now realizing - that the substance of Obama’s character is no match for his eloquent rhetorical skills. The damage to the image of America in the eyes of the world is incalculable and at this very moment our most trusted allies are forced for the first time to question their alliance with the USA.

I am not advocating for or against American intervention in Syria. I am advocating that next time we elect a President, we elect someone who has experience in the halls of Congress or the White House. I doubt many people would want a novice surgeon to improve their learning curve using a new technique on their body. America has suffered enough damage from Obama’s amateurish Preisdency.

Obama: Please Stop Digging

         

It amazes me how POTUS Obama has made so many blunders in regards to Syria – and he’s still piling them one on top of each other!

Obama’s off-the-cuff “red line” comment a year ago was the start, but If he had just fired off a few cruise missiles at Assad when he did use chemical weapons – much like his predecessors Clinton and Bush had done with Libya this whole affair would be a distant memory by now.

But no, POTUS Obama could not make even a small decision that he would “own” – so he had to go to Congress to get approval for an action that he already had the authority to make under the war powers act. Obama’s advisors knew that Congress would not approve the act because it was not thought out and he couldn’t get anything through Congress anyway. Obama’s political strategy was to be able to blame Congress for not authorizing action and hopefully the whole affair would go away. Obama elevated what should have been a minor decision to fire some cruise missiles into a deliberation worthy of WW3 – and it isn’t about to go away.

Now that Obama has been thrown a razor blade covered life preserver by Russian President Putin, Obama has effectively pivoted away from all of the US allies in the region and has effectively rendered the US impotent from a political and military perspective in regards to Iran. Unfortunately for Obama, the story isn’t about to go away anytime soon. The whole chemical weapons inspectors fiasco will last years while Assad resumes slaughtering his people, and each massacre will now have Obama’s name associated with it.  The former allies of the USA  (like Egypt Saudi Arabia, etc.) in the Middle East will be reassessing their relationship with the USA and form alliances that met their national interest – which may not coincide with USA interests. Why wait for Obama to throw them under the bus like foormer Egyptian President Mubarak?

Even as I write, Obama is being manipulated by both Russia and Iran in what may be the most humiliating foreign policy fiasco in the history of the USA. There is an old saying that when you are in a hole, the best course of action is to stop digging. Would someone please take the shovel from Obama’s hands?