Where is Kissinger when we need him

A solution to the Islamic revolution is as likely to be found as that the US will win the World Cup. Where is Henry Kissinger when we need him?

Entrance stage right. Kissinger secretly meets with jihadists, preferable a comfortable place like Paris where a visit would go unnoticed. He gives them enough of what they want to stop most of the terrorists’ onslaught.

It is not a question, really, of solving the plight of Palestians, but rather of stopping a war that cannot be fought with a million drones.

Where is Maj. T.J. “King” Kong, ready to ride a nuclear bomb down on Putin. That’s not fair: to the major. The military has done more than its share.

It is too late, and there is not enough time, to devote too much of  America’s attention on how it got into the fix. Nor is there time to determine whether the U.S. ties with Israel are part of the problem or part of the solution.

At this point the only question is how to get out of the Middle East quagmire. Wasn’t the warning against a land war in Asia.

Some Republicans want to blame President Barack Obama, somewhere coming up with the idea that the outcome could have been anything other than what it has become.

This is the time for the tried-and-true French invention, triage. We need to separate what cannot be saved, ignore what likely will survive no matter what we do, and focus on things we can make a difference on.

Even that strategy has a deep flaw. How can it be assured that the right choices will be made.

For the moment, perhaps the choice is to minimize our losses in the Middle East, let the Arabs settle their own problems and deal with the Russian maverick.

It is true that this could allow Islam to be a symmetrical opponent. The US is much better suited to deal with those kinds of foes.

There are no solutions that will not be bloody, if there are any solutions at all.

One thing that is clear is that ignoring the threat of climate change, which is made more deadly by ignoring the reliance on fossil fuels, will lead no where American wants to go. In any case, standard of living standards must go down, including in the wealthy countries. Everyone knows who will bear that burden.

There may be things working in the favor of the West that are not known. How many know that the late President Richard Nixon’s visit to China was set up because Beijing and Moscow were literally at war in an obscure region few know.

Or perhaps we should turn to the French again, this time for a cosmopolitan solution. A really dirty French bomb that leaves restaurants standing.

Sources:

The Cold War: A New History

New York Times

BBC

RYOT