Obama, with problems in the Middle East.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7870340.stm

Hamid Karzai has become increasingly vociferous in his criticism of American military tactics and has been making half-hearted threats to shift his allegiance to Moscow if he does not get his way.

Washington has yet to publicly declare its hand but a series of well-placed leaks, briefs and snubs have raised the prospect that it could move its support elsewhere in this year's presidential election.

One Afghan newspaper spoke of "a new cold war".

A senior Afghan government official says the new Obama administration has insulted President Karzai and one prominent MP accuses America of "running a shadow-government" .

The decline in relations began with a visit last year by Joe Biden, now the vice-president, to Kabul.

At the time, as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, he attended a private meeting with Mr Karzai.

A well-placed source describes Mr Biden, exasperated at not getting "straight answers" on drugs and corruption, launching into a verbal tirade and storming out of the meeting.

In a country where honour and decorum are second only to God and country, this was less than tactful.

President Karzai has been holding a series of meetings with former Mujahedeen commanders in the past few weeks amid suggestions that he is trying to align the country with Russia.

That has certainly been his public stance. As well as a deliberately leaked "letter of understanding" with Moscow, President Karzai publicly warned America that unless it supplied the military hardware he wanted, he would look to other countries for support.

No-one was in a moment's doubt who this meant. The Russian ambassador, Zamir Kabulov, an old Afghan hand, was seen strutting around parliament last week.

He has warned that the US and Nato are repeating the same mistakes of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. As he was posted to the Soviet Embassy at the time, his opinion is worth considering.

Now President Karzai has sent a document to Nato outlining new "rules of engagement". If implemented they would substantially alter the mandate for foreign forces in the country.

It seems inconceivable that there could be a real and lasting schism between Kabul and Washington. It will be the job of Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, to ensure that does not happen.

That’s not all though, the plot thickens…

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,496167,00.html

Kyrgyzstan's parliament voted Thursday to close a key U.S. air base in the country — a move that could hamper President Barack Obama's efforts to increase the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Deputies voted 78-1 for the government-backed bill to cancel the lease agreement on the Manas air base, a transit point for 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo each month to and from Afghanistan. Two deputies abstained.

If President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signs the bill and Kyrgyz authorities issue an eviction notice, the United States will have 180 days to vacate the base.

"The decision to shut the American base reflects the will of the Kyrgyz people," said Nurbyubyu Kerimova, a deputy with the pro-government party that overwhelmingly dominates parliament in the former Soviet bloc nation.

Bakiyev unexpectedly called this month for the closure of Manas, complaining that the United States was not paying enough rent for the base.

His announcement of the base closure was made in Moscow, shortly after Russia offered his impoverished country $2.15 billion in aid and loans. Analysts say the closure and the aid appeared to be linked, although officials deny any connection.

However, Communist deputy Ishak Masaliyev said the decision on Manas could help improve ties between Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

"We in Kyrgyzstan do not need anybody else's base. We have always advocated a union with Russia," Masaliyev said.

Well there you have it folks. Obama, the genius that was going to make the entire world love us, is doing a great job. The Democrats with their brilliant selection of Vice President are not helping any. Biden is going over seas and pissing off the leaders of countries who were helping us, at least in part. I was under the impression that everyone was going to love us when Obama took office. I thought that everyone just hated Bush. The Democrats blamed Bush for every single problem we had worldwide. Why then is Obama loosing the support of Middle East nations, and why so quickly?

To get to the answer you have to look at who is watching this spectacle. In both of these cases who was the beneficiary? The Russians. That’s right, our good friends the Russians are benefiting from every misstep of the Obama Administration. I called this a long time ago. Obama is seen as a real push-over by Putin and the Russians. Moscow is going to take what it can, while most Americans are focused on our slide into socialism. Russia is looking to rebuild it’s old union and take back the land that once belonged to it. Putin also knows that Obama is going to do nothing to stop it. Add that with the fact Obama is weakening our country with every stroke of his pen. Why would the Russians not take this chance?

Tell me what you think…