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Obama’s 5 Worst Foreign Policy Decisions
Townhall.com ^ | August 30, 2014 | John Hawkins

Posted on 08/30/2014 1:25:41 AM PDT by Kaslin

Since Barack Obama has been the Hindenburg of Presidents on the domestic front, there hasn't been as much commentary as you'd expect about the fact that he has been the Titanic of Presidents on foreign policy.

George W. Bush certainly made his mistakes as President, primarily in Iraq, but you did at least get the sense that his administration was full of capable, serious adults sincerely grappling with a new strategic problem for the country. On the other hand, when it comes to foreign policy, Obama comes across like a bored kid playing war because his mother won't let him come inside and play with his Xbox.

He doesn't care very much, he's not prepared, and he doesn't spend a lot of time thinking things through. It's like Obama just ponders the issues in-between shots on the golf course, formulates his policy by shooting from the hip, then gives a speech about it and thinks his work is done.

We may have laughed at the incompetence of the Obama Administration when it gave a "reset" button to the Russians that actually said "overcharge" or when the POTUS bowed to a foreign leader like he was his butler instead of the President of the United States, but there are real consequences to Obama's buffoonery on the world stage.

5) Benghazi: Congress is still investigating Benghazi, but best case scenario, the Obama Administration got Americans killed in Libya by ignoring their repeated requests for more security in a dangerous part of the world. Worst case scenario, the Obama Administration got them killed, deliberately misled the public about what happened for political purposes, and did nothing when it could have conceivably acted and saved their lives. When all the investigations are completed, we'll have a clearer picture of what happened, but at a minimum, good people are dead because the Obama Administration didn't take basic precautions to save their lives.

4) Libya: Gaddafi was an evil dictator with American blood on his hands, but he had also been scared straight by Bush’s invasion of Iraq and was cooperating with the United States. So naturally, Obama signaled the world that it was dumb to work with us by helping radical Islamists defeat Gaddafi. Today, Libya has implemented Sharia law, is a hotbed of terrorism and is descending into civil war. Meanwhile, many of Obama’s supporters still consider that country to be a “success story.” Maybe it is compared to say, Obamacare -- but like most of Obama’s presidency, we’d have all been better off if he’d just done nothing and let Gaddafi crush the radical Islamists.

3) Obama's Iranian Nuclear Deal: After a lot of grumbling that Obama wasn't doing anything to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, Obama swung into action and made the situation even worse. He signed a deal with Iran that will allow it to rake in somewhere between 7 and 20 billion dollars in sanctions relief and frozen assets even as it CONTINUES to work on enriching uranium. In other words, the Iranians get billions of dollars, give up nothing of consequence and when anyone complains, Obama claims the problem is solved because we have a "deal" in place stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Given how bad a negotiator Obama is, I guess we should feel lucky that he didn't just give Iran a nuclear bomb in return for promises that it will never use it.

2) The Bowe Bergdahl swap: There's a reason that it is our nation's policy not to negotiate with terrorists. If you reward terrorists for their terrorism, it encourages more of the same. So, when Barack Obama broke the law to release five Taliban generals in return for deserter Bowe Bergdahl, he served notice to every terrorist on the planet that kidnapping Americans could pay big dividends. So it’s not exactly shocking that ISIS is promising to murder a captured relief worker if the U.S. doesn’t pay it millions and release Aafia Siddiqui AKA “Lady al-Qaeda.” After the Bergdahl deal, why wouldn’t ISIS expect that to work? Why wouldn’t Al-Qaeda start trying to capture our troops to trade for terrorists in Gitmo? How many of our soldiers will end up being kidnapped and held because of this swap? How many Americans will die when those Taliban generals inevitably go back to the fight? The Bergdahl swap was illegal, short-sighted, and stupid. In other words, it was VERY OBAMA.

1) Iraq/Isis: Despite being told over and over again that it was a terrible idea to set up a timeline in Iraq and pull out of the country for political reasons without getting a Status of Forces Agreement, Obama did it anyway. Then he bragged that "We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq."

Not so much.

That’s because ISIS sprang up in Syria as one of the groups fighting anti-American dictator Bashar al-Assad. After Assad rather famously crossed Obama’s imaginary “red line” by using chemical weapons against the rebels trying to overthrow him, Obama wanted to aid them, even though there was every indication that radicals were taking over the movement. Had the public outcry not stopped him, it’s entirely possible Obama would have accidentally ended up helping ISIS take over Syria.

After ISIS gathered strength, it moved into Iraq where it outfought an Iraqi army that outnumbered it 15-to-1. If only those troops had more American training and a minimal amount of American air support, they would have crushed ISIS like a steamroller running over a watermelon with no U.S. casualties. Instead, there’s now an Islamic State stretching from Syria to Iraq run by maniacs who are committing genocide against Christians, taking sex slaves, and promising terrorist attacks against the United States.

What’s Obama’s plan to handle this disaster his policies created? Earlier this week, he said,

“We don’t have a strategy yet. We need to make sure that we’ve got clear plans. As our strategy develops, we will consult with Congress.”

Wow. Just wow.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: barack0bama; foreignpolicy; iraq; isis; libya; obama; syria
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To: Justice
Only 5??

Ditto.

21 posted on 08/30/2014 5:34:11 AM PDT by Hoodat (Article 4, Section 4)
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To: Cowboy Bob

Remember the famous words of Sen. McCain: “We have nothing to fear from an Obama Presidency...but Obama himself”.

Yes, it’s too bad McLame didn’t really say that.


22 posted on 08/30/2014 5:36:12 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Justice
The title says foreign policy decisions, so yeah 5 is correct. Now name his other disastrous foreign policy decisions. (Not that I doubt that there aren't any more)
23 posted on 08/30/2014 5:36:14 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: 4rcane

Yeah, that too


24 posted on 08/30/2014 5:39:27 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: DeaconRed

Wait a minute, that has nothing to do with foreign policy decisions


25 posted on 08/30/2014 5:41:06 AM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin

Was Fast unt Furious a domestic or foreign policy...
I lose track, wait...it was a domestic AND Foreign
policy disaster.


26 posted on 08/30/2014 5:42:59 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: Kaslin

All 5 decisions favored islam. Could the false-prophet-worshipper be any more evident? I know we have freedom of religion in this country, but islam is nothing more than a murderous cult. Islam is evil incarnate.


27 posted on 08/30/2014 6:37:00 AM PDT by abclily
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To: Kaslin
George W. Bush certainly made his mistakes as President, primarily in Iraq

You mean like, by not demanding free oil? Or by not nuking it?

28 posted on 08/30/2014 6:47:52 AM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves" Month.)
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To: Graewoulf
and.....for all the world it APPEARS to me that he's about fo fall off the Stage...





that "enthisiastic"....use of drugs...is a lingering substantial part of his "psyche" ifn ya axe me.
29 posted on 08/30/2014 6:48:52 AM PDT by MeshugeMikey ( "Never, never, never give up". Winston Churchill ...)
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To: Justice; All

I was thinking the same thing...There has to be a list longer than some Chicago thugs rap sheet there somewhere...

Ohhhh, damnit, this is going to label me a racist again...


30 posted on 08/30/2014 7:03:44 AM PDT by stevie_d_64 (I will settle for a "perfectly good, gently used" kidney...Apply within...)
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To: Kaslin
What about Egypt? He supported the MB in their successful effort to topple a relatively pro-Western government.

What about Honduras? Obama sided with the socialist president who tried to go against his own supreme court and stay in power past his term.

There are probably many more

31 posted on 08/30/2014 7:10:03 AM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: Kaslin
"Wait a minute, that has nothing to do with foreign policy decisions."

Yes it does. If he hadn't we wouldn't be concerned about his ZERO foreign policy decisions.
He would be community organizing and screwing that up for somebody.

32 posted on 08/30/2014 8:28:09 AM PDT by DeaconRed (ZERO must go while we still have a country. Joint Chiefs . . . . . . Do Your JOB NOW ! ! ! ! ! ! !)
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To: EBH

I agree.

_________________

When Obama holds a Presser, ISIS knows what to attack next day, next week and next month.

Some would call that “aiding and abetting the enemy.”

Hence, ISIS does not need more spies in the White House, as long as Iranian born Valerie Jarrett is there.


33 posted on 08/30/2014 8:32:38 AM PDT by Graewoulf (Democrats' Obamacare Socialist Health Insur. Tax violates U.S. Constitution AND Anti-Trust Law.)
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To: Popman

I didn’t know becoming a Marxist was a bad foreign policy decision ...; )


Foreign policy decisions are made from a World View..
as well as domestic ones.. and even personal ones..

You need to get out more..


34 posted on 08/30/2014 8:51:53 AM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
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