Great analysis by Mead of problems with Obama's Iran policy, criticisms and concerns that resonate when considering his entire approach to foreign policy and the seemingly grossly misguided worldview embraced by he and his inner circle. And Mead is right - the Obama administration's refusal to address in any realistic or coherent way the concerns, now increasingly also coming from the left, just stokes worries about what the hell Obama thinks he's doing.
So one can say this mess is a reflection of one of three things way I see it: Obama and his maenads are convinced they and their worldview are in the right and arrogance has cemented that belief in place and firmly locked the door of the echo chamber; or, admitting to flaws in their thinking or simply just acknowledging doubts would also amount to admitting to reality that American power and leadership are indeed essential things of vital importance to Western interests and that is something uber liberals of Obama's ilk are absolutely loathe to do - so they just blindly push on; or, terrified or disgusted by the the thought of a military confrontation Obama is simply trying to either run out the clock and pass the mess on to the next administration or looking to sign any deal bypassing Congress's concerns or input or approval and then when that deal inevitably falls apart blame that outcome on nefarious forces - Israel, neocons, American hegemony, Bush - whatever.
Gotta be one of those three - and none of the options leave one feeling very comfortable about how this will all play out.
So one can say this mess is a reflection of one of three things way I see it: Obama and his maenads are convinced they and their worldview are in the right and arrogance has cemented that belief in place and firmly locked the door of the echo chamber; or, admitting to flaws in their thinking or simply just acknowledging doubts would also amount to admitting to reality that American power and leadership are indeed essential things of vital importance to Western interests and that is something uber liberals of Obama's ilk are absolutely loathe to do - so they just blindly push on; or, terrified or disgusted by the the thought of a military confrontation Obama is simply trying to either run out the clock and pass the mess on to the next administration or looking to sign any deal bypassing Congress's concerns or input or approval and then when that deal inevitably falls apart blame that outcome on nefarious forces - Israel, neocons, American hegemony, Bush - whatever.
Gotta be one of those three - and none of the options leave one feeling very comfortable about how this will all play out.