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Obama's diplomacy, not fully engaged
Washington Post ^ | May 3, 2010 | Jackson Diehl

Posted on 05/03/2010 11:10:40 AM PDT by george76

Barack Obama's foreign policy has been defined so far by his attempts to "engage" with adversaries or rivals of the United States, such as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia. The results have been mixed. But now the president's focus is visibly shifting. In the next 18 months, Obama's record abroad will be made or broken by his ability to do business with two nominal U.S. allies: Hamid Karzai and Binyamin Netanyahu.

Both men are prickly and somewhat inscrutable...

And Obama has not done well. In fact, his treatment of the Israeli and Afghan leaders during one week in late March -- immediately after his victory on health care -- marked a low point of his performance as president.

Was it hubris from health care that brought on this burst of presidential imperialism? Whatever the cause, the results were disastrous.

What's missing is personal chemistry and confidence, the construction of a bond between leaders that can persuade a U.S. ally to take a risk; in other words, presidential "engagement." Isn't that what Obama promised?

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bho44; binyaminnetanyahu; democrats; hamidkarzai; healthcare; karzai; media; msm; netanyahu; newspapers; obama; oldmedia

1 posted on 05/03/2010 11:10:40 AM PDT by george76
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To: george76

“What’s missing is personal chemistry and confidence, the construction of a bond between leaders that can persuade a U.S. ally to take a risk; in other words, presidential “engagement.””

BS

Obama’s foreign policy is only missing one thing:

Competence.


2 posted on 05/03/2010 11:13:55 AM PDT by henkster (A broken government does not merit full faith and credit.)
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To: george76

The author doesn’t seem to understand that Obama is a petulant little child who cannot be reasoned with.


3 posted on 05/03/2010 11:17:23 AM PDT by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: george76
The results have been mixed.

Mixed? 100% failure is mixed? Who knew?

4 posted on 05/03/2010 11:19:28 AM PDT by savedbygrace (Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord)
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To: george76

how about this explanation;

obama foreign policy: working as intended.


5 posted on 05/03/2010 11:19:42 AM PDT by beebuster2000
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To: henkster

presidential “engagement” + ally = Boot on your neck.
presidential “engagement” + enemy = Hand of friendship.


6 posted on 05/03/2010 11:21:39 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: george76
Was it hubris from health care that brought on this burst of presidential imperialism?

Yes, I remember the shrill tongue-lashing Netanyahu got from Hitlery the week health care passed.

They were so full of themself that week they thought they were Jesus Christ.

7 posted on 05/03/2010 11:23:21 AM PDT by Siena Dreaming
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To: norwaypinesavage

What the MSM COMPLETELY miss is that amongst the world leaders, Obama is not respected or feared. I challenge one pundit to name a SINGLE world leader with whom Obama has developed any sort of close relationship. There are none after almost a year and half, and that fact in itself is the most stunning indictment of Obama’s lack of people skills.

If one thinks even harder, name any PERSON who is not a world leader who Obama considers a close friend. His ‘body man’, Reggie, is probably the guy Barry identifies with most, and that is because he is Obummer’s lackey, totally subservient and compliant. Obama had no close friends that I know of when he was in Illinois, he hung with Ayers, Wright, Pflegger, Rezko, etc. just to use them to advance his own career. I don’t think any of them qualified as actual buddies you go have a beer with.

Barry is an enigma, but each day, he is being revealed more and more to be devoid of personality, and all about one thing, himself.


8 posted on 05/03/2010 11:26:57 AM PDT by milwguy
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To: george76

What’s missing? Maturity. Reality. Sensibility. Competence. Drive. Determination. Pride. Strength. Belief.
In short, B*lls in the Oval Office. Not this childlike, perpetual victim & wuss.


9 posted on 05/03/2010 11:28:42 AM PDT by theDentist (fybo; qwerty ergo typo : i type, therefore i misspelll)
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To: george76
Obama's diplomacy, not fully engaged


10 posted on 05/03/2010 11:43:45 AM PDT by GalaxieFiveHundred
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To: beebuster2000

....how about this explanation; obama foreign policy: working as intended......

I was thinking the exact same thing....everything Obama does that seems illogical is exactly what he intended in order to take this country to its knees. There’s no other “logical” explanation for it.


11 posted on 05/03/2010 11:58:13 AM PDT by AutumnFire
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To: george76

He identifies well with our enemies. Our allies ... not so much.


12 posted on 05/03/2010 12:00:18 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: george76

“Both men are prickly and somewhat inscrutable...”

Presents somewhat of a challenge for a moron whose entire existence has centered on exploiting his own ehnicity.


13 posted on 05/03/2010 12:22:02 PM PDT by Spok (Free Range Republican)
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To: norwaypinesavage

He is a petulant child who sees himself as king of the world. Malignant narcissism is dangerous and he is inflicted with it.


14 posted on 05/03/2010 12:36:45 PM PDT by mojitojoe (banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Thomas Jefferson)
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To: george76

He’ll give ‘em some DVDs of his best speeches and they’ll be eating out of his hand.


15 posted on 05/03/2010 12:41:18 PM PDT by mbynack (Retired USAF SMSgt)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

Obama's diplomacy, not fully engaged

16 posted on 05/03/2010 3:31:27 PM PDT by SJackson (Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided, Barack Hussein Obama)
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To: milwguy

We already know that the radio talkers and USSS read FR. If, sometime in the near future, we start to see MSM puff pieces on Zer0’s good friend (insert name here), we’ll know that the White House does too.


17 posted on 05/03/2010 4:14:07 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("I can see November from my house!")
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To: AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; ...
Thanks george76.
In the next 18 months, Obama's record abroad will be made or broken by his ability to do business with two nominal U.S. allies: Hamid Karzai and Binyamin Netanyahu.
Obama *is* a broken record.
18 posted on 05/03/2010 4:16:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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