You thought Bush was bad? Meet Dr Ben Carson

Eight years of the George W. Bush presidency left America, and the rest of the world for that matter, longing for a US president who promised the intellectual acuity of a brain surgeon. You know, the polar opposite of the intellectually non-curious, frat-jock that had lit and left the Middle East in flames.

America has a definable history of electing presidents who are everything his predecessor wasn’t. Bold replaces cautious. Young replaces old. Personable replaces cerebral. A youthful and forward-looking Clinton replaced an ageing conservative - Bush Senior. While his “traditional values”-trumpeting son replaced the adultery-scandal-ridden Clinton. In 2009, Obama, a law professor, replaced Bush.

According to recent polls, the Republican Party yearns for a president who is decisive with the application of US military power - particularly in the Middle East – where many believe Obama has been reticent. A Gallup Poll finds that 77 percent of Republicans believe foreign policy to be “extremely important” – with a majority viewing the fight against the Islamic State (IS) to be the central component of US policy in the Middle East.

In summary, America’s conservatives are undertaking auditions for a president who promises to be bodacious, bold and brave in the Middle East – to bring about a lasting peace that alleviates war weary American minds once and for all.

That’s what they want. But that’s not who they are on their way to choosing.

Dr Ben Carson is now leading the Republican Party presidential race in the first primary state, Iowa, and is running a close second in New Hampshire.

At this stage, and with less than three months to Iowa, Carson is the GOP’s solution for the Middle East.

So who is Carson, and on what ground is the celebrity brain surgeon, and evangelical Christian, qualified to bring redemption and salvation to the MENA region?

If Carson’s earliest discovered remarks about the Middle East are anything to go by, we should all be worried. At a speech given at Andrews University in 1998, Carson claimed the Egyptian pyramids were constructed by Joseph of the old Testament for the purpose of storing huge quantities of grain, and not, as commonly believed, to house the tombs of the pharaohs.

Needless to say, Carson is wildly wrong. Egypt’s antiquities minister, Mamdouh el-Damaty, responded to Carson’s assertion by saying: "It doesn't even deserve a response."

In Carson’s defence, he made these comments more than 17 years ago. The question now, however, is has his knowledge of the Middle East extended beyond wild biblical-based historical inaccuracies? Recent evidence says not.

During Tuesday’s Fox Business Channel-hosted GOP Presidential Debate, Carson gave a vexing, muddled, word-salad-type response to a simple foreign policy question.

The debate moderators asked Carson, “You were against putting troops on the ground in Iraq and against a large military force in Afghanistan. Do you support the president's decision to now put 50 Special Ops forces in Syria and leave 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan?”

The question couldn’t have been more straightforward. Yes or no – and then please elaborate. Instead, Carson gave a puzzling, nonsensical, waffling reply that left no one in any doubt that the neurosurgeon has no idea what he is talking about when it comes to issues relating to the Middle East. He replied:

“Well, putting the Special Ops people in there is better than not having them there, because they - that's why they're called special ops, they're actually able to guide some of the other things that we're doing there.”

Wait, what? This makes no sense whatsoever. Firstly, they’re not called “Special Ops” because they’re “there”. They’re there to perform special military operations. What military operations he didn’t specify. He merely said they’re to “guide some of the other things that we’re doing there”. Again, without explaining what those things are. But we already know some of those “other things” include other Special Ops soldiers training and guiding Kurdish and Iraqi forces. So in Carson’s mind, the 50 additional Special Ops are merely there to oversee the other Special Ops already there.

His answer only got worse from that moment forward. Carson then pivoted to Russia’s new “influence throughout the Middle East,” adding “we have to oppose him [Russian President Vladimir Putin] there in an effective way.” If you’re waiting to learn what exactly is that “effective way,” you’re about to be disappointed. The waffle served lukewarm proceeded to hop from one non-sequitur to the next, with Carson making the astonishing claim that the Chinese are in Syria alongside the Russians. They’re not. But Carson wasn’t done yet.

He said his strategy for defeating IS is to “make them look like losers”. I’m not making this up. Carson said if the US can make IS look like “losers,” we can “destroy their Caliphate." On what planet is this considered bold and decisive leadership?

“If you look for the easiest place to do that, it would be in Iraq. And if - outside of Anbar in Iraq, there's a big energy field. Take that from them. Take all of that land from them. We could do that, I believe, fairly easily, I've learned from talking to several generals, and then you move on from there,” added Carson.

Take from that what you will. I have no idea what he is talking about.

Then again when it comes to the Middle East, I doubt anyone knows what Carson is talking about. Last month, he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos he believed the “Middle East would’ve turned over Osama bin Laden” if the US threatened the region with energy independence.

How exactly the “Middle East” would’ve turned over the al-Qaeda leader after he had already been expelled from Saudi Arabia and was at the time of the 9/11 attacks residing in Afghanistan - Carson didn’t say.

Even more troubling is the fact Carson has tapped a renowned anti-Muslim bigot as his leading foreign policy advisor. Robert Dees is a retired army general who believes Muslims pose an existential threat to the United States, and that a central role of the US military is to spread Christianity.

In many ways Carson sees the state of Israel as essential to performing the role his foreign policy advisor, Dees, as articulated. As an evangelical Christian he believes Israeli Jews must pave the way for Christ’s return. Yes, that old chestnut. And in believing so, Carson lauds Israel on his campaign website: “Israel is our only democratic ally in the Middle East. She is surrounded by nations that threaten her very existence. We can never let her enemies believe that our deep commitment to Israel’s peace and security will waver. We must always stand with Israel and her people.”

So there’s that.

Dr Carson is a surgeon. He’s not an elected official, not a foreign policy analyst, not an expert on the Middle East. But the US, and therefore the rest of the planet, is dealing with the very real prospect of a would-be US president who is absolutely befuddled by US foreign policy, the entire MENA region and on top of all that - one who has hired the guiding hand of a Christian Crusader.

And you thought George W Bush was bad?

- CJ Werleman is the author of Crucifying America (2013), God Hates You. Hate Him Back (2009), and Koran Curious (2011), and he is the host of Foreign Object. Follow him on twitter: @cjwerleman

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Photo: US presidential candidate Ben Carson (AFP)