BARACK Obama’s decision to sanction airstrikes in Iraq has caused controversy. Republicans in the US have said that it is worse than nothing. They are disappointed with the limited airstrikes which can hardly be compared with the grand show pummeling Saddam Hussain’s country. They had earlier ridiculed the US pullout from Iraq. Naturally they think nothing of limited airstrikes. The Democrats are not altogether happy with Obama’s decision either. It appears that the US has suddenly woken up to the humanitarian cause. This is particularly because Washington has allowed a civil war to continue in Syria for over two years causing the death of hundreds of thousands. Obama refused to arm the moderate rebels in Syria in time. His inaction could not be ascribed to Russia’s negative attitude. Obama’s foreign policy is now facing flak in the US though it was thought to be on the right lines at the time of his reelection.
The storm over Obama’s weak-kneed foreign policy as it is seen in the US may gather force. The US President is committed to only limited engagement in Iraq but he has to arm the Kurds. That will put the US in a precarious position. Politicians at home are critical of the US President. Arab allies are equally so. They may not favour the arming of the Kurds as Syrian rebels have been denied such assistance by the US. It can also fuel Kurdish separatism which will destabilize not only Iraq but also Turkey and the surrounding region. The world may look askance at the new turn in US policy towards interventionism. One can wonder why the suffering of Gazans did not appear as a humanitarian cause to Barack Obama.
