OBAMA'S DYSFUNCTIONAL FOREIGN POLICY

 “The Obama-Biden foreign policy will end the war in Iraq responsibly, finish the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, secure nuclear weapons and loose nuclear materials from terrorists, and renew American diplomacy to support strong alliances and to seek a lasting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

 “Obama and Biden will pursue tough, direct diplomacy without preconditions with all nations, friend and foe. They will do the careful preparation necessary, but will signal that America is ready to come to the table and is willing to lead. And if America is willing to come to the table, the world will be more willing to rally behind American leadership to deal with challenges like confronting terrorism and Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs.”

 “Obama and Biden will rebuild our alliances to meet the common challenges of the 21st century. America is strongest when we act alongside strong partners. Now is the time for a new era of international cooperation that strengthens old partnerships and builds new ones to confront the common challenges of the 21st century -- terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.”

In his speeches he’s tossed out phrases like “a new era of American leadership” and  “our oldest alliances in Europe and Asia are stronger than ever”.

All that sounded good.  Boy, this man was going to reform the world, put America on top, and bring about Utopia on Planet Earth.  What happened?

Let’s look at the U.N.  One of Obama’s first moves as president was to join the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, a group that has no prequalifications for membership.  So the U.S. now belongs along with such human rights standouts as  Russia, China and Saudi Arabia.  Time after time resolutions dealing with human rights and sponsored or supported by the U.S. have gone down to defeat in the U.N.  On several occasions, the U.S.  simply remained silent and just watched as the resolution failed.

And it hasn’t been just on the human rights front that the U.S. has been pummeled at the U.N.  For example, Russia introduced a resolution dealing with the integrity of the judicial system.  It was aimed, they said, at “upholding the rule of law and democracy”.  The resolution was co-sponsored by a host of countries that do anything but uphold law and democracy – China, Cuba, North Korea and Sudan.  The U.S. was the only country that voted against the resolution.  Every country in the European Union, those that Obama referred to as “strong allies”, ignored the pleas of the U.S. and abstained from voting.  So much for our European alliances being “stronger than ever”. 

Remember the U.S./NATO effort to oust Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya?  This is a war that, despite his peace, love and anti-war rhetoric, Obama chose to wage.  Well, Qaddafi’s gone.  But in the wake of his demise, Libya is a country awash in chaos with a dysfunctional government.  We did, however, open up another area where terrorists can freely recruit and train for their future attacks on the West.  You have to wonder if al-Qaeda thought about sending "thank you" letters to Obama.

When the issue of chemical weapons being used by the Syrian government came to light, Obama staunchly declared that Assad had to go.  He had crossed one of those elusive Obama red lines – not once, but several times.  Last September, Obama even took to national television in prime time to explain why he would order a military strike against Syria. So where’s Bashar al-Assad?  He’s in Syria and not going anywhere soon.  There was no U.S. military strike nor any other firm action from our Commander-in-Chief.  Assad is winning the battle with the rebels and has recently resumed chemical warfare against his own people.

And the red lines he laid own for Iran?   Looks like a desert storm obliterated those too.  And his rhetoric about getting them to scale back their nuclear ambitions?    Well, he managed to relax sanctions on Iran while allowing the country to advance its nuclear program.  While Obama spews threatening rhetoric for the cameras, Iran marches forward doing exactly as it pleases.

Within just a few weeks after he assumed the office of president, Obama sent a hand delivered letter to Dmitry Medvedev, president of Russia at the time, saying he would abandon the deployment of a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Russia would put a stop to Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads.  The missile defense system, which had long been planned, called for a sophisticated radar system in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland, designed to protect the region from Iranian missiles.  Russia had vehemently opposed the system, viewing it as a threat against its own nuclear arsenal.  Well, we abandoned the missile defense system, along with our allies in the region, while Russia did nothing to curtail Iran's nuclear progression.

In 2009, Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced a highly publicized ‘reset’ in relations in Geneva.  We were told this would make everything between The U.S. and Russia hunky-dory.  But over the past several years, relations have gone steadily downhill.  Remember the agreement that Kerry signed in Geneva that was supposed to stabilize the crisis in Ukraine?  That was a roaring success, now, wasn’t it?  Sounds like the “reset” put relations with Russia back to what they were a few decades ago.

And how about that “pivot to Asia”?  Obama’s trip to China was aimed at securing a new trade agreement.  He left empty handed.  Well, maybe next time, huh?

And of course, we all remember Obama patting himself on the back while proclaiming al Qaeda is decimated.  Apparently the words “decimated” and “re-emerging” were inadvertently interchanged on the teleprompter.  Al-Qaeda is about as decimated as the mosquito population.