In the Middle East, unconditional concessions signal weakness

Am Thinker has a good article: Obama’s Faustian Bargain by Mark Silverberg

…
As Barry Rubin of the Global Research in International Affairs Center in Israel wrote recently: “In the Middle East, it is not so useful to think yourself popular and show yourself to be friendly. You have to inspire fear in your enemies and confidence in your friends. And if you don’t inspire fear in your enemies – if you’re too nice to them – then you will indeed foment fear among your friends.” That is because the culture of the modern Arab/Persian world has not descended from the Reformation, the Enlightenment, John Locke, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, but from radical jihadi Salafists like Ibn Tamiya in the 15th century and Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (Wahhabism) in the 18th century whose descendants now seek to return Islam and the world back to the Dark Ages.

From Day 1, Obama’s stated intention has been to engage diplomatically rather than to confront militarily state sponsors of terror and weapons of mass destruction proliferators like Iran and Syria. However, as he launches his reconciliation effort in the Muslim/Persian world, he had best understand from the outset that non-democratic governments like Syria, and jihadist regimes like Iran as well as non-state Islamic actors like Hezbollah and Hamas move to the beat of a different drum. They do not perceive such overtures as we do. These regimes do not share our Western visions of democratization, globalization, religious tolerance and freedom.

They do, however, have their own vision, and the price they will exact from Obama will be in furtherance of that vision which is to humiliate us, drive us from the Middle East, expunge all Western influence from the region, and “export” Islamic terrorism throughout the world as a precondition to subjugating billions of infidels to Sharia law. That is their vision, and they have proven to be far more effective in “exporting” it over the past three decades than we have been in exporting ours. If we are to “reconcile” with regimes such as these, they will exact a high price for their “cooperation” and it will be based on their vision. …

Skipping (probably most important) paragraphs concerning Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Israel, Gaza, etc.

These are the initial costs of the Faustian bargain the Iranian mullahs will extract from the US administration. So Mr. President, here’s some advice for whatever it may be worth:

You are dealing with an apocalyptic Islamic regime in Tehran whose sole mission is to humiliate the US wherever and whenever possible, expel it from the Middle East and establish Iranian hegemony over the entire region. As you begin pressuring Israel to cede its security, turn Lebanon over to Hezbollah and the Syrians, and begin turning away from our other allies in the Middle East in furtherance of this grand bargain, remember this: the price our enemies are exacting for their “cooperation” is costing us our allies, our credibility, our influence, and will eventually cost us our freedom. Is it really worth the price?

The highlight is mine. Read the whole article. It’s painful to see the the same lesson being repeated over and over, but I am afraid it’ll have to get worse before it gets better.