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The Middle East's Maze of Alliances

(National Review) Victor Davis Hanson - It's increasingly difficult to navigate the web of transitory enemies and allies in the region. President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan were said to have a special friendship. But based on what? Erdogan is strangling democracy in Turkey. He is a big supporter of Hamas and at times a fan of Iran. A NATO ally, Turkey recently refused to let U.S. rescue teams use its territory to stage a rescue mission of American hostages - two of them eventually beheaded - in Syria. Ostensibly, America supports moderate pro-Western consensual governments that protect human rights and hold elections. But there are almost no such nations in the Middle East except Israel. About the best choice for the U.S. is to support without qualification the only two pro-American and constitutional groups in the Middle East, the Israelis and Kurds. The writer is a historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
2014-09-12 00:00:00
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