Listening to President Obama’s State of the Union Address, one might well conclude that he has been one of the greatest foreign policy presidents in U.S. history. Yes, Obama gave the go-ahead to take out Osama bin Laden, and for that he deserves credit. But wouldn’t a President McCain or a President Romney have made the same decision under the same circumstances?
Coming into office, the cornerstone of President Obama’s foreign policy was “engagement” – reaching out to our enemies (Iran) and attempting to reason with them. This cozying up to our enemies was, however, unfortunately accompanied by a snubbing of our traditional allies (Israel and Great Britain).
President Obama has publicly distanced himself from Israel, America’s steadfast ally, and the Middle East’s only well established democracy. In fact, the Obama cold-shoulder was so bad that a Jerusalem Post poll found that at one point only 6% of Israelis believed the Obama Administration to be pro-Israel.
Then he moved on to the the dissing of the UK, our strongest ally through two world wars and into the present day. President Obama refused five requests for personal meetings with then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, refused to call our traditional partnership with the UK a “special relationship,” (the phrase used to describe our alliance since Churchill), and even sent back a bust of Winston Churchill that had been on display in the Oval Office as a sign of solidarity since 9/11.
And what good has come from the Obama olive branch extended to Iran? Absolutely nothing. Worse than nothing. Despite numerous overtures to the Mullahs in Iran, they are closer to nuclear weapons capabilities than ever. And when the Iranian tyrants stole the election in 2009, and thousands of innocent protesters were being brutalized, raped, and murdered in the streets, Obama refused to lift a finger in support. In fact, Iran’s belief that the U.S. under Barack Obama has become a paper tiger is now so ingrained that Iran now routinely threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz, thus driving up the world price of oil and hurting the U.S. economy; they were behind a plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in our nation’s capitol, Washington, D.C.; and most disturbingly, top intelligence officials announced just yesterday that Iran is increasingly willing to attack the United States on U.S. soil, something which until recently would have been unimaginable. So much for reaching out to Iran.
Other examples of this Administration’s foreign policy failures around the globe abound: As a sop to Russia, Obama abandoned missile defense sites that had been promised to our allies Poland and the Czech Republic. Bowing to Chinese pressure, Obama became the first president in 20 years to refuse to meet with Tibet’s Dalai Lama. And speaking of bowing, let’s not forget that this president literally bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia.
The Administration’s mishandling of Egypt has been stunning. After initially wavering ,waffling, and stumbling, Obama finally called for President Mubarak’s ouster. We’re now witnessing a previously pro-American Egypt turning into a Muslim Brotherhood-controlled Egypt where Coptic Christians are being murdered and their churches targeted left and right.
Moving on to Syria. It took the slaughter of nearly 2,000 civilians before the Obama Administration finally gave up on Bashar al Assad, whom the Administration had once labeled a “reformer”!
In Iraq, President Obama is jeopardizing everything that our troops have fought so hard to achieve, withdrawing in such a way as to dangerously expand Iran’s influence, to the detriment of the U.S., our allies, and the Iraqis themselves. His rash exit has resulted in renewed sectarian violence and with it risks thousands of innocent lives.
The list of setbacks goes on and on: Afghanistan is showing signs of heading south as we run for the door under the cover of talks with the Taliban; Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua are facilitating Iranian influence in the Western Hemisphere; the Mexican drug wars continue to spiral out of control, endangering American tourists and ordinary U.S. citizens along our border with Mexico; Islamic terrorists are making significant gains in Somalia, and in Nigeria where Christians are being slaughtered merely because they are Christians; and, despite the President’s announcement of a shifting focus to security in Southeast Asia, Chinese military expansion is being met with huge U.S. defense cuts.
Our country cannot afford another four years of the Obama Administration’s failure on the international stage.