The question of leadership is now staring us in the face!

Wednesday-February 23, 2011

The question of leadership is now staring us in the face!

When does a leader start being a leader? When does a leader cease being a leader?

The events in the Mideast have taken some of us by storm. But for those who follow this kind of stuff, it comes as no surprise.

When you have an enemy centric policy of appeasement, which allows you to criticize our allies and apologize to our enemies, you are not leading. The provocations by Iran the fall of Egypt’s president and now the events in Libya are not just mere coincidences. These are well orchestrated events that have a geographical significance. The problems that this country now faces are a direct result of its bad leadership and the President’s inherent weakness.

You cannot tell me that the entire Mid East collapse has taken us by surprise. If it did, then we have some serious issues and some serious questions that must be answered now.

The Muslim Cleric, Anjem Choudary, is leading an effort to stage a protest in Washington D.C. on March 3rd. His stated goal is to introduce Sharia Law as the new law of the land. His goal is to introduce the Muslim faith as the predominant religion of the world. His goal is to have the flag of Islam flying over the White House. He is displaying what leadership is all about. He is making an argument and he is pushing his cause. Now whether we should let him do this and give him a FORUM is another question. None the less, he is leading. This is what a leader does. Our leader, the President, should be saying that Sharia Law is not a law that is accepted here and your flag will never fly over the people’s house. If I were leading, that’s what my response would be. But where is the President’s response?

These acts and demonstrations that are now taking place in many countries are not a coincidence. It is a direct result of a new leadership in the world that I am not convinced is in our best interest.

The events, in Quadaffi’s Libya, are the most startling one to date. He is capable of murdering his own people and he is capable of putting the world in an economic downturn, if he holds the oil, he produces a hostage. The problem is that if he steps down or is thrown out of office, there is no one waiting in the wings to take over. His son, Saif al-Qadaffi could be his successor, if he is accepted.

The State Department said, “We are trying to convey a message to Libya.” They also said in statement that, “We are analyzing the speech of Saif al-Qaddafi to see what possibilities it contains for meaningful reform.” In other words, they do not know what to do!

There is no question that Quadaffi owns Tripoli. This is where his base his, but the Eastern half of Libya is where the oil is. Currently no one is taking charge there and it could be taken by Jihadists. If Libya goes into a period of Civil War the production of oil will cease. The oil business in Libya is run by the oil companies and there employees. They are now fleeing the country so anything is possible.

If Libya is taken out of the world’s oil supply chain and the country goes into a Civil War Saudi Arabia could step in and supply the lost oil. However, this would only be until they collapse. This scenario could happen because dissent is now paralyzing the entire region.

The price of oil per barrel has already skyrocketed. Just today, the price of a barrel of oil rose to $95.00, the highest it’s been in two years. Once it reaches the $100.00 level, the price of a gallon of gasoline will be close to the $4.00 level. That would have a significant impact on our economy and quite possibly put it into a recession.

What is our president doing about this? He has put an embargo on drilling here, because of the environmental lobbies’ campaign money. As these countries go further into Islamist control, which they most likely will, they will do everything in their power to cripple this nation with the oil exports that they would control. The oil then becomes a weapon of mass destruction. A real leader would say we are going to drill our own oil here and the rest of the world will have to get along without American oil money. But a weak leader needs time to analyze and debate the pole numbers with that kind of move.

If Libya fails and falls into the hands of Islamist Jihadist, it will affect Egypt’s prospects for Democracy. This is why I am very skeptical of when the word Democracy is used in the Middle East. It is primarily Islamist and it is primarily the young who are driving the revolutions. They are also the primary targets of the Jihadist and the Clerics, like Anjem Choudray is attracting here.

The United States is not doing enough. We should be getting aid and people who can assist in place to provide the direction needed to set up a government structure. Egypt is now facing a hunger crisis. Eastern Libya is facing a medical crisis. We should be following the Reagan model of when the Berlin Wall came down. Reagan sent humanitarian aid and personal that could help do those things. This would go along way in calming the fears of the people on the ground. In other words, prove that we are your friends and not your enemy.

You cannot lead while you analyze. The post mortem on the Obama presidency will show that opportunities were missed, and power vacuums occurred while we were analyzing what words meant. Every other word out of Hillary Clinton’s mouth, over the last few weeks, has been, “we are looking for partners to resolve these issues.” Our enemies don’t care about partners and partnerships. They view this type of talk as a weakness in leadership because it says we are afraid to do anything ourselves or that we cannot take any action by ourselves. Just a simple condemnation would be nice.


While our own government takes its citizen’s hostage through unconstitutional laws and redistribution of its wealth Democrats are playing games by fleeing there State Assemblies. These Democrat members of Congress swore an allegiance when they took office. Our President sided with the Unions, instead of saying to his fellow democrats get back to work make your argument and let the chips fall where they may. He should have demanded that they do the job they were elected to do. The President again shirked his responsibility and was AWOL, absent without leave, and devoid of the leadership that was necessary to curtail a bad situation that got worse because of his message.

What kind of message does this send to our enemies? The answer: A weak President that sells out to the unions and special interests and a Senate that flees the scene, because they don’t want to vote because they are afraid. These signs are signals that we have upheaval here, like the countries abroad. The signs of weakness can only be interpreted one way. It emboldens an enemy that will stop at nothing to enforce their will here at home and abroad. Just ask Cleric Choudray!

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: American leadership sells itself! American leadership is now needed! America needs a leader that will protect her! The face of America is one that should demonstrate unbridled strength - there should be no question about that!