I am writing this while there is a “pause” in the terrible Gaza war, which was precipitated by the barbaric invasion of Israel by Hamas. This may be a good time to also pause and reflect on the broader historical context within which the war is being waged.
In 2008 when Barack Hussein Obama was running for president, the United States was the greatest and only super power in the world. During his campaign, he came out with his infamous policy statement that he wanted to “fundamentally transform America.” At that time it was understood by some that he meant to transform America from a free-enterprise democracy into a socialist-type authoritarian state. The two major socialist/communist states then were Russia and China, which did not seem to be immediate, direct threats to America. Russia was still recovering from its Cold War defeat, and China was viewed as a potentially formidable, but still-growing power.
What may not have been generally appreciated then was that socialist/communist states themselves come in different flavors. Russia was mostly a European power whose origins were based on Western culture, Christian theology, and Marxist/Leninist politics. China was an Asian nation based on Eastern culture, Confucius, Taoist and Buddhist religious beliefs, and a Mao-inspired revolutionary government. While these two by themselves comprised a large part of the world’s population, I think Obama and his backers understood early on that there was still a very large segment of the earth not represented—the Muslims. Their religion, culture and geographic location were all very different from the other three powers, Russia, China and America.
I think this may well be what Obama and his sponsors had in mind, when he said he wanted to “fundamentally transform America.” I think he did not want to make it like either a Western-derived Russian socialist autocracy, or an Eastern-derived Chinese communist dictatorship, but into a separate and distinct third power, a Muslim culture with an Islamic, religion-based theocracy. To accomplish this, Obama and his allies would first have to destroy America’s and Western Europe’s culture, history, religious and democratic foundations, and replace them with autocratic models.
Obama himself always favored Islamic states over Israel, and his proclaimed transformation is well underway in America. After only 11 years of determined leftist and radical-leftist government policies, combined with the massive influx of undocumented aliens, the United States is no longer the undisputed world leader, and is in serious decline. China is now challenging or even replacing America as the dominant power in the Asian and Pacific theater. Russia is again flexing its muscle in the European theater with only a moderate backlash from the Western powers. In Africa and the Middle East, Iran and its proxies have gone from virtual bankruptcy and “JV” status to become a major Muslim power. This is what Israel is facing today, not just Hamas, but the combined efforts of a cash-infused Iran and its allies and proxies.
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park
