What is more dangerous than the recognition of the Afghan president that his office received cash from Tehran, is that the United States knew about this Iranian method. The issue does not require new documents to be published by the Wikileaks website to confirm the Iranian goals in Afghanistan, after these goals became extremely clear in Iraq. For a long time now, and especially under the mandate of President Barack Obama, Washington has been aware of the fact that its political and military errors in Iraq and Afghanistan were – at the very least – partly due to the efforts of Iran and its allies. The American military commanders present on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan are also aware of the fact that they are directly or indirectly subjected to Iran's fire. As for the political officials, they know that Iran is the one obstructing the implementation of the policy of the American administration and that Tehran is scoring points in all directions, whether through the Shiite militias it has trained and armed, through bribery or the aid and facilitations offered to the extremist Sunni groups. In other words, Iran was able to benefit from all the elements of the confrontation with the United States, in the two countries that were the object of direct American invasion and in which American troops are present in large numbers. In addition to this American realization of the reality on the two arenas of direct confrontation, Washington also knows that its war on terrorism in Pakistan is hindered by ancient ties between Islamabad and those whom the United States has classified as being terrorists, as well as by Islamabad's continuous disregard - if not current support - of them. Moreover, Washington knows that circles within the Pakistani military intelligence are sympathetic towards the hardliners in the Afghan Taliban and the Taliban movement, which is raising additional obstacles in the face of the settlement of this battle. In the Middle East where the confrontation is mainly political, at least until now, the United States seems unable to secure the success of the plan on which Obama's administration was relying to activate the peace process and earn the trust of the Arabs, in the context of the plan to confront the Iranian nuclear file. Indeed, the predicament is major in the face of the negotiations process and the nature of the solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, due to the failure of the administration to convince its main ally - i.e. Israel - of the importance of this solution for their strategic interests. These American impediments have now surfaced, after there was hope in seeing the Democratic administration led by Obama correcting the numerous mistakes committed by the previous administration that was led by George Bush. It is worth mentioning that the former American president, despite his arrogance and obstinacy, was forced – during his second term – to recognize there was something wrong about his administration's approach in handling the problems facing the region. He was also forced to accept the decision of the American public opinion, after he failed to maintain his control over Congress following the midterm elections. Bush thus accepted the results of the Baker-Hamilton committee report that was officially presented at the end of 2006, after he became certain he will not be able to secure the ratification of his policy in Congress. Today, Obama is facing a similar situation, in addition to the disastrous economic and social repercussions prevailing inside the United States following the financial crisis. This is happening a few days prior to the midterm elections of Congress over which the Democrats are expected to lose control. Consequently, at a time when the president's popularity has dropped to its lowest levels, the United States is witnessing a hysterical populist state mixed with right-wing, intolerant and closed-up ideas that are placing additional restraints on the implementation of the domestic reforms sought by the president. This is how the internal retreat of the Democrats was fueled by the failure of the administration to manage the most sensitive issues for the Americans. It is no longer enough to condemn the backwardness and shortsightedness of the Republicans, considering that Obama must now take their votes in Congress into account, seek settlements with them and maybe even allow them to be members of a committee to assess his policy, just like his predecessor did by accepting the results of the Baker-Hamilton committee.
