Monday, September 08, 2014

Be careful for what you wish for

President Obama during his Chuck Todd inception interview on NBC's Meet the Press

Well, I think that it is absolutely true that we're going to need Sunni states to step up-- not just Saudi Arabia, our partners like Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey. They need to be involved. This is their neighborhood. The dangers that are posed-- are-- are more directed at them right now than they are us.

It's little over a week ago that UAE jets used Egyptian bases to attack Islamist militias in Libya.

The problem in the Middle East is not people not "stepping up." They'll step up just fine if they see a vacuum. And the implications of Turkey -- a NATO member -- stepping up would be particularly large.