Posted on 10/22/2012 4:27:44 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
President Obama was supposed to have a grand vision that would reset American foreign policy in a way that would make us safer by defusing the animosity that drove so many people to hate, fear or distrust the United States. It has failed because it was, just like Obama’s domestic agenda, not a realistic strategy, but a naive fantasy.
Foreign Policy magazine columnist Rosa Brooks wrote last week that “as president, he has presided over an exceptionally dysfunctional and un-visionary national security architecture — one that appears to drift from crisis to crisis, with little ability to look beyond the next few weeks.”
The truth of that assessment is plainly evident. Consider Libya. We had no real plan for dealing with post-Qaddafi Libya. That country has a barely functioning government, and yet we trusted it to protect our people and property. When U.S. embassy officials there requested additional security, warning that the terror threat was rising, they were denied. Apparently the administration had set Libya, like the rest of the world, on autopilot because the President was more interested in other things.
Our relationship with Israel, our best ally in the Middle East, is in shambles because Obama has no plan for dealing with Israeli-Palestinian issues other than to thwart Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Obama supported the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, our best North African ally, with no plan whatsoever to deal with the aftermath, and now the Muslim Brotherhood runs Egypt.
The administration is not checking Iran’s progress in nuclear weapon development because, as Joe Biden asserted, even if the country that our own State Department has labeled the “world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism” makes weapons-grade uranium, “there is no weapon that the Iranians have at this point.” Apparently Joe Biden can see through mountains directly into Iran’s nuclear facilities — and into the facilities of all of Iran’s terrorist allies.
Russia and China simply do what they want with no fear of retaliation from the United States.
And, as we saw in Libya, al-Qaida is resurgent. Yes, Obama ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Then he immediately announced it to the world before we could use the intelligence gathered in the raid to destroy the terror network. That blunder let al-Qaida regroup, and now it is brazenly attacking us again.
The President has mistaken speech-making for strategy. He thinks he can bring other nations under his influence simply by speaking from a stage. He has no long-term vision and no desire or ability to sit down and negotiate deals, and negotiation is the lifeblood of international diplomacy. Under Obama the United States is, as Brooks noted, simply drifting from one international crisis to another while the more savvy world leaders take advantage of our President’s naivete to extend their influence and protect their interests.
Putin is evidently not going to be tolerant of the US after we backed Afghan MUSLIMS against the Russians, but they do know how to eliminate terrorists.
The US backing the Afghans against the Russians was the BIGGEST SCREWUP IN RECENT HISTORY....
Obummer has set his priorities! Gotta win to play more free golf!
Obama’s economic policies are trash but his foreign policies are down and dirtier.
Ohaha has already lost the f/p debate——he should stay home and read a good book, instead of wasting our time.
The bomb that took the lives of four Americans in Benghazi had Obama’s name on it.....it said “LOSER.”
I sometimes reflect on the octogenarian liberal who used to constantly spout off at the gym I used. He told us all one day how Obama was going to patch up our diplomatic relations with all the countries after Bush had ruined our foreign relations. My reply was a question, “Do you actually believe that?” “Because I damned sure don’t.” He died about two years later and by that time his biggest worry was that Obummer would be reelected. At least the old fool was capable or realizing his mistake in the end.
Great title on your thread.
Obama’s Foreign Policy has been just one BLUNDER after another.
It is not true to say Obama does not have a vision and that he’s not made great progress towards his ideal in the Middle East. His vision is America’s vision, up-side-down.
He’s empowered our enemies and endangered our allies. He’s shifted homeland inSecurity away from his friends in Islam and redirected the machinery to demonize, harass and hand rape Americans as the real domestic terrorists. He’s even adopted a Mexican drug cartel.
He has a vision and he’s been super successful.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.