As the world continues to roil....

 

 

"Just when you thought the skies became as dark as possible in the Middle East, they just got darker..."

It has been a busy and turbulent week. Just when we thought things could be about as unsettled as they could be, they got worse. Much worse. The Middle East continues to be a cauldron, and the temperature keeps going up. That region is a mess of historical dimensions, and there are many, many people who are in there stirring the pot.

With the death of King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia yesterday, the Western world lost a friend (of sorts). Who or what will replace him is a question. Will the Wahhabis take over? There are many forces in the region which would love to reshape that kingdom. To retake Mecca. To make Saudi Arabia into an important part of the caliphate.

As bad as this was, the bigger story in the region is what happened in Yemen. Yemen, the country that POTUS put on a pedestal during last year's SOTU address, has fallen. The entire government is gone. Who is in charge? The rebels. How will they govern? Sharia law? Are they aligned with ISIL in any fashion? Iran? Will they poise a threat to neighboring Saudi Arabia? Many more questions than answers. Having a country will ill intentions at the choke point in the Suez Canal would unleash the dogs of war. 40% of the world's oil could be held captive.

Finally, last night on the news it was reported that our intelligence has determined Iran has built a long range missile, capable of reaching targets "far beyond Europe". Funny that tidbit of information did not come out during this week's SOTU address. All we heard about Iran is that POTUS will veto any additional sanctions. Our policy of appeasement has worked so well this far. This new missile sits on a launch pad right outside of Tehran. Most of us "know nothings" in fly over country believe Iran is about as peaceful as Attila the Hun. To appease this country is borderline nuts. I firmly believe if he continue on our current course, Israel will do it for us. Then the ship will really hit the sand.

DESPITE the best efforts of this Administration, we have continued to develop our energy resources. Should the Middle East oil supply become disrupted, we will not be over the same barrel as we were during the oil embargo of the 70's. The same cannot be said for the rest of the world however.

Where does that leave us? As we continue to withdraw from the world's trouble spots, we also continue to shrink the size of our military. Our leaders need to wake up and smell the coffee. See the roiling. This is not a game played at Harvard - this is for real. We need to be strong and resolute. It will not take much of a match right now to light the fire. And once the fire is lit, it will be very hard to put out.