Behold what 'smart power' hath wrought: Obama's careening and incomprehensible handling of the Syrian crisis.....doing a Costa Concordia with US ntl security and foreign policy. Obama outed himself as naive, isolated....and outlandishly stupid.
Not to forget then-Secy of State Hillary's part in the "smart power" debacle.
Democrats' 'Smart Power' Lies in Ruins; Suddenly
Realizing What They Miscalculated About the World:
Everything
National Review | Sept 3, 2013 | Jim Geraghty / FR Posted by kristinn
....... Democrats are suddenly realizing that their foreign policy brain-trust completely misjudged the world.
Being nicer to countries like Russia will not make them nicer to you. The United Nations is not an effective tool for resolving crises. Some foreign leaders are beyond persuasion and diplomacy. There is no international community ready to work together to solve problems, and there probably never will be.
You can pin this on Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Susan Rice, but most of all, the buck stops with the president. Those of us who scoffed a bit at a state senator ascending to the presidency within four years on a wave of media hype and adoration are not quite so shocked by this current mess.
We never bought into this notion that getting greater cooperation from our allies, and less hostility from our enemies, was just a matter of giving this crew the wheel and letting them practice, as Hillary Clinton arrogantly declared it, smart power (and fronted Time magazine cover).
(These people cant even label a foreign policy approach without reminding us of how highly they think of themselves.)
They looked out at the world at the end of the Bush years, and didnt see tough decisions, unsolvable problems, unstable institutions, restless populations, technology enabling the impulse to destabilize existing institutions, evil men hungry for more power, and difficult trade-offs.
No, our problems and challengers were just a matter of the previous hands running U.S. foreign policy not being smart enough. (Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
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THIS JUST IN "Smart power" got Obama to cut off aid to Egypt (US $$ aid goes to the Egyptian military). We clearly see the ambitious hand of smart power fanatic, Hillary Clinton, in the Egyptian aid cutoff.
Why?
B/c the Egyptian military just arrested the Clintons' Muslim Brotherhood employee for inciting Mideast terror.
Yikes.
REFERENCE A Muslim Brotherhood activist on US soil---who was an employee of one of three tax-exempt Clinton Foundations--astonishingly--was working for the Clintons, and simultaneously conducting Mideast terror activities. Also raises huge questions about the Clintons' three tax-exempt foundations laundering money for terror activities. Tax-exempt foundations are known havens for money laundering and tax evasion.
Gehad (means jihad) el-Haddad served as one of the Muslim Brotherhoods top communications officials; he was a top Muslim Brotherhood official and adviser to Obama's hand-picked Egyptian candidate, Morsi; el-Haddad served for five years as a top official at the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit group founded by former President Bill Clinton. El-Haddad pushed the Muslim Brotherhoods Islamist agenda in the foreign press, where he was often quoted defending the Brotherhoods crackdown on civil liberties in Egypt. He became the public face of the Islamist organization soon after leaving his post at the Clinton Foundation; much of his official work with the Brotherhood took place while he was still claiming to be employed by the Clinton Foundation.
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The more cynical among us might wonder if the Clintons' Foundations were money laundering for the Muslim Brotherhood.
NY POST EXCERPT ----The Bill Clinton Foundation has spent more than $50 million on travel expenses Bill Clintons foundation has spent more than $50 million on travel expenses since 2003, an analysis of the nonprofits tax forms reveal.....includes $4.2 million in 2011 for the William J. Clinton Foundation (to which Hillary and Chelsea are attached); $730,000 for the Clinton Global Health Initiative; and $7.2 million for the Clinton Health Action Initiative (CHAI).
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A key Muslim goal is the destruction of Western Civilization.....and Christianity. The tip-off occurred when Egyptian General al-Sisi refused to take vacaying Obaba's call from MV. It affirmed Gen al-Sisi's determination not to let Obaba interfere with his plan to drive the Muslim Brotherhood out of Egyptian politics. Superpowers Russia and China both backed al-Sisi and the Saudis jet-streamed al-Sisi millions to finish the job.
The Egyptian military has vowed to rebuild the 63 churches torched by the marauding Egyptian Muslims. Al Sisi's got the lay of the land---he knows who's got the ear of our Muslim president.
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Stupid Obomb-no doesn't have a clue. Gen al-Sisi's unrelenting defense of Christians has turned the world upside down. Gen al-Sisi is igniting worldwide disapproval of the MB---world leaders are vocally defending Christians. (1) Russian Pres Putin vocally decried Christian slaughter by Muzzies. China also backed al-Sisi. (3) The Saudis jet-streamed millions to al-Sisi to continue the Muslim disemboweling.
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THE SYRIAN/EGYPTIAN CONNECTION Syrian rebels---who are Sunni Muslim jihadists---attacked the Syrian Christian village of Maaloula; one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the East was also being sabotaged. BBC NEWS later reported that Assad ordered the Syrian Army to take back the Christian town from Islamist rebels.
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That twit Obama is on the wrong side again ....ordering the CIA to arm Syrian Muzzie rebels so they can kill more Christians.
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REFERENCE At the Hay Literary festival in Wales, author and PBS historian, Niall Ferguson, spent much of his time dissing Obama's "smart power" speech delivered in Cairo in 2009......describing it as "touchy feely nonsense"...
Ferguson has sent out warnings about Obama's failure to come to terms with what Ferguson sees as the potential rise of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt and the possible "restoration of the caliphate and the strict application of Sharia"........themes at the heart of this new book "Civilization: The West and the Rest"...............
Ferguson's standpoint is that Western dominance has been a progressive civilizing force.....his new book reinforces these arguments postulating that there were six killer "apps" which propelled the West to a position of predominance.
These were competition, science, property, modern science, consumption and work ethic, each with a dedicated chapter in the book.
Ferguson contrasts how China was the world's most advanced civilization in the 15th century but stagnated and was overtaken by Dutch mercantilism and the rise of capitalism employing the six "skills".
In his books, and on his compelling PBS series "Civilization," Ferguson lists "morality" as a strategic strength of Western Civilization. He points out the successful Chinese business city Wenzou also has 1,400 churches.
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NOTE Not coincidentally, it was China that joined Russia in decrying The Muslim Brotherhood's attack on Egyptian Christian's churches, homes and businesses.