[tgs]

http://pjmedia.com/barryrubin/2011/1...o-be-moderate/
From news article:
Ladies and gentlemen, liberals and conservatives, Obama-lovers and Obama-haters, no matter what your race, creed, gender, national origin, or level of unpaid college loans, two things should be clear to all of you:

First, to describe the Obama Administration’s Middle East policy as a disaster–I cannot think of a bigger, deadlier mess created by any U.S. foreign policy in the last century–is an understatement.

Second, the dominant analysis being used by the media, academia, and the talking heads on television has been proved to be dangerously wrong. These include the ideas that revolutionary Islamism doesn’t exist, cannot be talked about, is not a threat, and that extreme radicals are really moderates.

To summarize, I will merely say:

Egypt, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Six countries or entities listed above have come—or are likely to come—under Islamist rule. Each is different.

But in all but the case of Turkey—where the Obama Administration ignored State Department reporting and has continually honored and excused an Islamist regime—and the Gaza Strip—where the Obama Administration helped entrench Hamas’s rule by forcing Israel to slash sanctions–they happened almost completely on Obama’s watch. Turkey and the Gaza Strip have become far worse on Obama’s watch.

The seventh, Syria, might merely remain under a repressive, pro-Iran, anti-American regime. And while there is a chance for a moderate democratic revolution, the White House is supporting the Islamists. If the State Department hadn’t revolted and the Saudis acted decisively, Bahrain would probably have been added to the above list.