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Why don’t Americans trust Republicans on foreign policy?
PJ Media's Spengler ^ | April 11, 2015 | David P. Goldman

Posted on 04/11/2015 7:57:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Riddle me this, fellow Republicans. An NBC survey April 9 reports that a huge majority (70%) of Americans doubts that Iran will abide by any agreement to limit its nuclear arms–but a majority (54%) still thinks Obama will do a better job than the Republicans in dealing with Iran!

A majority of Americans – 54 percent – trust Barack Obama to do a better job handling an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, compared to 42 percent who say they trust the Republicans in Congress. But nearly 7 in 10 Americans say that Iran is not likely to abide by the agreement that has been reached.

53% think Iranian nukes are a “major threat,” and only 37% think they are a “minor threat.” Most Americans, in short, think Iran is a major threat to American security and think that Obama’s nuclear deal is a joke–but they still want Obama in charge of the negotiations, not us.

Maybe NBC made the numbers up. Maybe a proofreader got the numbers reversed. And maybe pigs will sprout wings.

There is a much simpler explanation: Most Americans don’t trust Republicans on matters of war and peace. Not after the nation-building disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan, that is. Why should they trust us? Our leadership has never admitted it made a mistake. Sen. Ted Cruz, to be sure, had the gumption last fall to say that “we got too involved in nation-building” and that “we should not be trying to turn Iraq into Switzerland”–and was excoriated for his trouble by the Bushies. The Republican mainstream is too busy trying to defend the Bush record to address the distrust of American voters.

One gets weary and grows shrill sounding the same note for a decade. I wish the problem would go away. A couple of weeks ago a friend who served in senior defense positions in the Bush administration remonstrated, “Why do we have to worry about what mistakes were made back then?” The American public doesn’t remember a lot, but it does remember the disruption of millions of lives after the deployment of 2.6 million Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan–not to mention 6,000 dead, 52,000 wounded in action, and hundreds of thousands of other injuries.

That’s why Obama still has the upper hand, and is likely to succeed in selling out American and allied interests to the mullahs. His trump card is the repeated statement: “The alternative is war.” That may or may not be true; over at Asia Times’ “Chatham House Rules” blog, several former senior officials of the Reagan administration are debating the merits of a military strike. But an air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities surely is an option.

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak had it exactly right: an airstrike on Iran’s nuclear facilities isn’t war. It’s half a night’s work, a pinpoint operation comparable to the killing of Osama bin Laden. But our leaders won’t say this, because the prospect of military force conjures up fears of a million Americans going back to war.

Republicans need a clear and simple policy about the use of force: We will use force only when we and our close allies are under threat. We will use the kind of force that least exposes Americans to harm. We will not sacrifice the time, let alone the lives, of American soldiers to fix the problems of other countries. I recommend that Republican candidates read Angelo Codevilla’s 2014 book To Make and Keep the Peace, and then ask Prof. Codevilla to design a bumper sticker for them.

It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry, or both, and in what order. Here we have the least competent president in American history bungling a decisive foreign policy matter in full view of the public, and bungling so badly that 7 out of 10 Americans think that any agreement we make with Iran will be a piece of garbage–and Americans still want Obama to handle the negotiations! That is not only injurious. It is humiliating.

How much more humiliation at the hands of the public do we need before we straighten out and fly right?


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; Israel; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; alqaeda; antiwar; bush; bushes; gop; gope; iran; iraq; israel; karlrove; obama; randpaul; ronpaul; tedcruz; waronterror
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1 posted on 04/11/2015 7:57:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I think most voters are afraid to tell their true opinions about Obama.


2 posted on 04/11/2015 7:58:52 PM PDT by Perdogg (I'm on a no Carb diet- NO Christie Ayotte Romney or Bush - stay outta da Bushesh)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Because Karl Rove.


3 posted on 04/11/2015 8:02:46 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Ive given up on aphostrophys and spell chek on my current device...)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

And just where is the article titled: “Why any sane human cannot trust a democrat - on ANYTHING - EVER!”


4 posted on 04/11/2015 8:06:06 PM PDT by AFreeBird
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To: Perdogg; 2ndDivisionVet
I think most voters are afraid to tell their true opinions about Obama.

They're not afraid, they're just lazy and ignorant. They don't know the difference between straight reporting and commentary, and they don't want to know the difference (of course this isn't helped by the fact that the line between straight reporting and commentary over the past few decades, but I digress).

5 posted on 04/11/2015 8:06:44 PM PDT by EveningStar
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Why don’t Americans trust Republicans on foreign policy?

Because the RATagandists constantly ridicule and berate them, and present their drivel as professional unbiased reporting.

6 posted on 04/11/2015 8:09:26 PM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate "Republicans Freed the Slaves Month")
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To: Paladin2; 2ndDivisionVet
Because Karl Rove.

Rove is not to blame. Voter ignorance is. Please see my post #5. :)

7 posted on 04/11/2015 8:09:49 PM PDT by EveningStar
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

NBC poll will say whatever NBC and the left wants it to say.

Anyone that thinks otherwise is either complicit or stupid


8 posted on 04/11/2015 8:09:58 PM PDT by sten (fighting tyranny never goes out of style)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
What's surprising here? ‘Republican presidential nominees’ were Mitt Romney and John McCain. Does anyone honestly believe that either of those two would have done all that much better of a job picking secretary of states than Obama’s buffoons of Hillary Clinton and John Kerry?

The people are making their voices known based upon what has recently been presented to them. This isn't something to ‘worry’ most conservatives, it should send shivers of fear into the GOPe that people think their candidates weren't even up to Obama’s par.

9 posted on 04/11/2015 8:09:59 PM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: kingu

Romney would have chosen better than Obama did.My parakeet could choose better.


10 posted on 04/11/2015 8:13:02 PM PDT by madison10
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To: Paladin2
I drive people crazy with that formulation. For some reason it really tickles me and captures how a lot of people today seem to "think" about issues.

Because internet.
Because Global Warming.
Because Karl Rove.

That's how I see this decade. It's sad. It's funny. It's America under Obama.

11 posted on 04/11/2015 8:16:10 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("Victim" -- some people eagerly take on the label because of the many advantages that come with it.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

I find it a funny construct too. Harf, Harf, Harf.


12 posted on 04/11/2015 8:18:00 PM PDT by Paladin2 (Ive given up on aphostrophys and spell chek on my current device...)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I don’t think you have a highly visible Republican standing up and explaining what is wrong with Obama’s plan.

No plan at all is better than his plan.

Tell the American people and explain why.

Then take out Iran’s nuclear plants.

If it takes boots on the ground, then put in a fresh supply of boots.


13 posted on 04/11/2015 8:19:12 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (The question, Jeb Bush? The answer: NO! Rove, is a devious propagandist & enemy of Conservatives!)
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To: kingu

Or even those two exact individuals.


14 posted on 04/11/2015 8:20:41 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You can help: https://www.tedcruz.org/donate/)
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To: ROCKLOBSTER

Tis true, and they have the ENTIRE media, including all TV shows, movies, universities, etc in their control to propagate whatever crap they want and do.


15 posted on 04/11/2015 8:22:54 PM PDT by punditwannabe
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Two words:
“Nation Building”
Even a lot of Dems were smart enough to see it was a stupid idea.


16 posted on 04/11/2015 8:23:31 PM PDT by RedStateRocker (Nuke Mecca, deport all illegal aliens, abolish the IRS, DEA and ATF.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

You forgot the Koch’s and Halliburton


17 posted on 04/11/2015 8:23:41 PM PDT by punditwannabe
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To: RedStateRocker

There is a much simpler explanation: Most Americans don’t trust Republicans on matters of war and peace. Not after the nation-building disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan, that is. Why should they trust us? Our leadership has never admitted it made a mistake. Sen. Ted Cruz, to be sure, had the gumption last fall to say that “we got too involved in nation-building” and that “we should not be trying to turn Iraq into Switzerland”–and was excoriated for his trouble by the Bushies. The Republican mainstream is too busy trying to defend the Bush record to address the distrust of American voters.


18 posted on 04/11/2015 8:25:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You can help: https://www.tedcruz.org/donate/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Simple answer: George W. Bush destroyed any credibility the Republican Party ever had on matters of foreign policy.

"Islam is a religion of peace." -- President George W. Bush

That will go down as one of the most idiotic things ever uttered by a U.S. president.

19 posted on 04/11/2015 8:29:30 PM PDT by Alberta's Child ("It doesn't work for me. I gotta have more cowbell!")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I don’t limit my distrust to foreign policy.


20 posted on 04/11/2015 8:32:09 PM PDT by Usagi_yo (Enormous wealth without God, something's bound to go wrong here.)
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