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FARS News Agency, Iran
December 28, 2011 Wednesday
US Military Influence in Mideast Fading Away Due to Iranian Drone Hacking
TEHRAN (FNA)- The recent showing of a captured American drone by Iran
embarrassed Washington so much that US President Obama had to ask
politely for the expensive piece of machinery to be returned.
The insult to injury is that the drone was not crashed - it was
landed. This simple detail holds all the implications for the future
of American foreign policy in the Middle East. It is reflective of a
trend in the Middle East that seems to leave America behind, with up
and coming players, like Iran, filling the void.
Given Iran's show of power, now restraint must be one of the virtues
in the US State Department and the Pentagon.
The purpose of NATO's mission in Afghanistan is not to consolidate or
create an Afghan state - it is to present a hard power deterrent to
Iran's regional influence; it becomes even more important with the
American withdrawal from Iraq and the opening of Iraq to Iranian
influence. Losing the emirates in the Southern peninsula is directly
related to whether the Keystone XL pipeline is built: Simple supply
and demand of oil will reduce the stakes of securing Saudi oil -
conversely, the emirates might come under the control of Iranian. As
far as hard power goes, the fact Iran managed to hack a sophisticated
drone is a hint that hacking an aircraft carrier based in Bahrain is
now possible.
The recent recognition of the Armenian genocide by France is a
calculated move to distance Turkey from Europe further. Turkey has a
rapidly growing economy and a powerful military, which combine with
the distancing from Europe to give Ankara its own version of
Ostpolitik, to make up for an ongoing century of Ottoman stigma and
relative absence from Mideast affairs. It might be said that the
Turkey-Iran relationship may be one of the most important regional
dynamics during this century, and with a policy of re-rapprochement,
Washington will carry relatively less clout with Turkish Prime
Minister Erdogan.
Syria is a yet unknown variable - President Assad survived the western
plots. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood's newfound political power can
also be used to sour relations with Israel, if the call for revision
to the 1979 peace treaty comes to fruition. Tel Aviv is following
these events closely, but its international isolation will be deepened
once the above dynamics intensify.
The confluence of these dynamics also marginalizes America's influence
in the Middle East. President Obama's request to Iran to give the
drone back demonstrates the highly unfavorable position of Washington
to affect the changes it wants in the Middle East. Indicative is also
the decision to send 250 American soldiers to Australia in 2012 - in
simplest terms, it is symbolic of America's strategic defeat in the
Middle East and the reshuffling of the cards toward the Pacific to
shore up a diminishing global presence.
It is a mysterious thing about empires - one day, the world is theirs.
On the next, it just moves on.
December 28, 2011 Wednesday
US Military Influence in Mideast Fading Away Due to Iranian Drone Hacking
TEHRAN (FNA)- The recent showing of a captured American drone by Iran
embarrassed Washington so much that US President Obama had to ask
politely for the expensive piece of machinery to be returned.
The insult to injury is that the drone was not crashed - it was
landed. This simple detail holds all the implications for the future
of American foreign policy in the Middle East. It is reflective of a
trend in the Middle East that seems to leave America behind, with up
and coming players, like Iran, filling the void.
Given Iran's show of power, now restraint must be one of the virtues
in the US State Department and the Pentagon.
The purpose of NATO's mission in Afghanistan is not to consolidate or
create an Afghan state - it is to present a hard power deterrent to
Iran's regional influence; it becomes even more important with the
American withdrawal from Iraq and the opening of Iraq to Iranian
influence. Losing the emirates in the Southern peninsula is directly
related to whether the Keystone XL pipeline is built: Simple supply
and demand of oil will reduce the stakes of securing Saudi oil -
conversely, the emirates might come under the control of Iranian. As
far as hard power goes, the fact Iran managed to hack a sophisticated
drone is a hint that hacking an aircraft carrier based in Bahrain is
now possible.
The recent recognition of the Armenian genocide by France is a
calculated move to distance Turkey from Europe further. Turkey has a
rapidly growing economy and a powerful military, which combine with
the distancing from Europe to give Ankara its own version of
Ostpolitik, to make up for an ongoing century of Ottoman stigma and
relative absence from Mideast affairs. It might be said that the
Turkey-Iran relationship may be one of the most important regional
dynamics during this century, and with a policy of re-rapprochement,
Washington will carry relatively less clout with Turkish Prime
Minister Erdogan.
Syria is a yet unknown variable - President Assad survived the western
plots. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood's newfound political power can
also be used to sour relations with Israel, if the call for revision
to the 1979 peace treaty comes to fruition. Tel Aviv is following
these events closely, but its international isolation will be deepened
once the above dynamics intensify.
The confluence of these dynamics also marginalizes America's influence
in the Middle East. President Obama's request to Iran to give the
drone back demonstrates the highly unfavorable position of Washington
to affect the changes it wants in the Middle East. Indicative is also
the decision to send 250 American soldiers to Australia in 2012 - in
simplest terms, it is symbolic of America's strategic defeat in the
Middle East and the reshuffling of the cards toward the Pacific to
shore up a diminishing global presence.
It is a mysterious thing about empires - one day, the world is theirs.
On the next, it just moves on.