Posted on 05/29/2014 4:13:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
It was billed as President Obama's comeback speech on foreign policy, a response to mounting criticism both foreign and domestic that his international leadership has been a failure. A "big picture" address, it would outline the president's foreign policy vision as it stands five-and-a-half years since he entered the White House.
Yet the commencement address yesterday at West Point failed to deliver on either count. Instead, it reinforced the impression of a lackluster commander-in-chief with an empty foreign policy vision.
In many respects this was a highly defensive speech, one that will do little to allay growing fears, both at home and abroad, that American leadership is in decline on the world stage. It was delivered by a president seemingly obsessed with image and public perception, rather than the long-term strength of America's foreign and security policy.
Hence his short-sighted decision to abandon Afghanistan in 2016, with the Taliban lurking in the wings to retake power, following in the footsteps of his withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011. Two-and-a-half years after the last American soldiers left Baghdad, the al Qaeda flag now flies over the city of Fallujah, a terrible precedent for developments in Afghanistan once the Stars and Stripes are lowered in Kabul.
At West Point, Obama failed to outline a coherent strategy for meeting many of the other biggest foreign policy challenges of the day, from mounting Russian aggression in Eastern Europe to the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran. Obama boasted of his handling of the Ukraine crisis, claiming that his administration had rallied a coalition of countries to condemn Russia. He made no mention of the fact, however, that Russian forces now occupy Crimea, or that Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops remain camped on the border with eastern Ukraine, ready to pounce once orders are given by Moscow. The president declined to outline any kind of long-term strategy for dealing with the Russian bear, content to continue with a flailing policy of simply muddling along.
On Syria, Obama outlined a new partnership initiative with allies in the region that has come three years too late, after Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal tyranny in Damascus has consolidated its power, with Islamists taking the upper hand within the flagging rebel movement. Meanwhile, on the Iranian front, the president continues to pledge his faith in nuclear negotiations with Tehran, while the Islamist regime remains the world's biggest state sponsor of international terrorism, with every declared intention of advancing its nuclear ambitions.
The president's West Point speech was short on policy but big on grandiose platitudes and self-congratulatory statements that will do nothing to reassure America's allies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. It was a distinctly lightweight address on issues of tremendous gravity, with a direct impact on U.S. interests. From Tokyo to London, America's partners are looking to Washington for leadership, but getting feel-good Twitter sound bites instead.
Obama came across yesterday as the anti-Reagan, a figure content to lead from behind rather than project confident, assertive U.S. leadership hardly the right signal to send to America's increasingly emboldened enemies and strategic competitors. President Reagan understood the importance of building America's defenses, squaring up to America's foes, and standing with friends and allies. Obama has had every opportunity to learn from Reagan's success, but has sadly chosen instead to pursue a path of American decline and disengagement from the world.
Gardiner is the director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation and a former aide to Lady Thatcher.
Obama address to West Point cadets "....... In fact, by most measures, America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. Those who argue otherwise who suggest that America is in decline, or has seen its global leadership slip away are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics. Think about it. Our military has no peer. The odds of a direct threat against us by any nation are low, and do not come close to the dangers we faced during the Cold War.
Meanwhile, our economy remains the most dynamic on Earth; our businesses the most innovative. Each year, we grow more energy independent. From Europe to Asia, we are the hub of alliances unrivalled in the history of nations. America continues to attract striving immigrants. The values of our founding inspire leaders in parliaments and new movements in public squares around the globe. And when a typhoon hits the Philippines, or girls are kidnapped in Nigeria, or masked men occupy a building in Ukraine it is America that the world looks to for help. The United States is the one indispensable nation. That has been true for the century passed, and will likely be true for the century to come....."
Pete Hoekstra: Obama Manages to Lose a Battle Against an Army of Strawmen "President Obama championed the success of his foreign policy by knocking down one strawman after another on Wednesday.
In an address to the graduating class at West Point, Obama criticized those who suggest that America is in decline, or has seen its global leadership slip away as either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics. He offered himself as the reasonable alternative to self-described realists who resist foreign conflicts altogether and their extreme opposition, the interventionists from the left and right. He later took aim at skeptics, who often downplay the effectiveness of multilateral action. For them, working through international institutions, or respecting international law, is a sign of weakness. I think theyre wrong.
Are Americans who thoughtfully challenge the presidents policies really nothing other than ignorant partisans who are irrationally concerned about the strength of the United States on the global stage?........"
The democrat vision for America is to lead from behind and he is working it. The issue is you don’t get it
Has there ever been a more inept, unqualified person leading the United States?
In his speech to the West Point cadets Obama highlights the U.N. and saving the planet from climate change - emphasizes that this “is a smart investment. It is the right way to lead.”:
“.....Likewise, the UN provides a platform to keep the peace in states torn apart by conflict. Now we need to make sure that those nations who provide peace-keepers have the training and equipment to keep the peace, so that we can prevent the type of killing we have seen in Congo and Sudan. We are deepening our investment in countries that support these missions. Because having other nations maintain order in their own neighborhoods lessens the need for us to put our own troops in harms way. It is a smart investment. Its the right way to lead.
Keep in mind, not all international norms relate directly to armed conflict. In the face of cyber-attacks, we are working to shape and enforce rules of the road to secure our networks and citizens. In the Asia Pacific, we are supporting Southeast Asian nations as they negotiate a code of conduct with China on the South China Sea, and are working to resolve territorial and maritime disputes through international law. That spirit of cooperation must energize the global effort to combat climate change a creeping national security crisis that will help shape your time in uniform, as were called on to respond to refugee flows, natural disasters, and conflicts over water and food. Thats why, next year, I intend to make sure America is out front in a global framework to preserve our planet.....”
http://www.scribd.com/doc/226759258/Obama-address-to-West-Point-cadets
How can he give a “Big Picture” address when we know nothing “Big Picture” about him?
No transcripts, no papers, no votes, no records - except a birth certificate that was withheld for years. His administration’s internal workings and actions are even more covert.
His administration is reactionary, not proactive. And, the reactionary results are cover up and obfuscation or just outright stonewalling and lies. So, to talk “Big Picture” policy is illogical because ‘policy’ implies forethought and preparation with which Obama has no experience - at least the kind that isn’t destructive.
Obama SUCKS. This fact was not lost on the West Point cadets.
He doesn’t care about the US - He cares about the world...so, the US must be eliminated as a superpower for the needs of the world. All our resources - to the UN for proper distribution. We’ll be the next third world country. Makes me sick.
“Obama SUCKS”
Well, he did choose THAT lifestyle...
Since when, is a commencement speech supposed to be about foreign policy?
When will the Obama cultists in the media admit that they were totally bamboozled in supporting this empty suit? Of course, the answer is, “Never.”
He was talking to the kids he is going to send to Afghanistan. He is sending them into a very dangerous RETREAT. What kid joins a team for the purpose of losing? And it will be dangerous as hell itself. As we leave, the Taliban fills the vacuum asserting its new Obama-given power...and to prove to the world they have that power, they will kill the kids...the very ones he was lecturing. You think they didn’t know that...and do you think many of them, (the 75% that didn’t give him a standing ovation) are wondering if this was their best career choice? This man is a morale buster...you want to disarm the USA? Start by demoralizing the newest leadership at West Point.
The fifth-column leftwing PBS media sluts covered Traitorobama’s speech at West Point with a series of short clips, cutting out the dead spots where applause would normally take place. Not one applause was heard in the PBS propaganda report. The few brief shots of the cadets in the audience showed expressionless faces (probably on strict orders not to show their real feelings of contempt).
When are Americans, as a whole, going to realize this guy says things that he has never done...Says things that he’s not ever going to do...He just says what he thinks people want to hear but if you actually look at it, it is totally false....
It is so obvious, no matter what the suck-up media says.
Bamboozled? All the information about Obama was out there before his election. We all knew it. They knew it - they just didn’t care. He was a clean, articulate black-skinned man. Obama’s actions thus far should come as a surprise to no one.
It was rather satisfying to compare and contrast the reception Obama received from the cadets yesterday to the one Bush received during his last in 2008. Bush received a heartfelt, resounding ovation, while Obama got a weak, highly reluctant round of meager applause.
I'm talkin' The United States of Twitter, b*tches!!!
LOL. Stealing....
Very few of these young officers will ever see Afghanistan, combat forces will be gone by the time they finish their initial officer training. However, they made a commitment to this country when they were 18 years old and take what they are doing very seriously. It's quite clear to them that Obama has never made such a commitment and is concerned about nothing but himself.
More mush from the wimp.
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