“Well it’s Friday. It’s after 5:00. So this is officially ‘happy hour’ with the Democratic Party. (Applause) I can do that. It is an executive action. I have the authority.” (Laughter)
Obama “happy hour” (nydailynews.com photo)
That was a jovial President Obama speaking to Democrats at the Washington Hilton Hotel just minutes after his brief, no questions press conference on the serious situation in Ukraine on Feb. 28. It reminded me of how he flew to Las Vegas for a fundraiser just hours after the Benghazi attack on our compound. Does he even realize he is the president of the United States?
“We are deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine,” he said in his less than forceful press conference statement.
Charles Krauthammer found the president’s statement that, “The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine,” weak and rather staggering.
“What he’s saying,” according to Krauthammer, “is we’re not going to do anything and we’re telling the world.”
Following the rhetorical practice of Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State John Kerry abruptly interrupted his global warming warning tour to issue the obiligatory letter of condemnation.
The administration’s recent announcement that it was abandoning Afghanistan by the end of the year and its proposal to return our military to pre-World War II strength are the latest indication of a weakening American national security position. There was the silence after the attacks in Iraq that saw Al Qaeda flags appear over Fallujah, where we once fought a fierce battle and won. And add Vice President Joe Biden’s failure to achieve a status of forces agreement in Iraq. All signs of an America without foreign policy expertise.
Vladimir Putin has called the president’s bluff in Syria. Who can forget the president’s warning, “A red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized,” only to be followed by “I didn’t set a red line … the world set a red line.” In addition, there’s the administration’s cave on sanctions with the belief that Iran will cease its nuclear weapon work.
Of course most of us recall how President Obama, in one of his biggest national security reversals of the George W. Bush presidency, scrapped the antiballistic missile shield in Eastern Europe. Many of us saw this as a capitulation to Russia, a move denied by the White House
If you think America is looking weak, be assured that the rest of the world sees it the same way.
Obama chides Romney (usmagazine.com photo)
Many of us recall how President Obama attempted to paint Mitt Romney as a novice lacking understanding of complex world issues during the last debate of the 2012 election. In his usual arrogant manner, the president challenged a remark Romney had made that Russia was our biggest geopolitical threat and paused to jokingly remind him that the Cold War had been over for 30 years. Guess again, Mr. President.
Referring to Russia, Romney said, “This is without question our No. 1 foe. They fight for every cause for the world’s worst actors.” And today we see Russia backing Syria and Iran.
The president’s open mike remark to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have more flexibility to negotiate after the election didn’t go unnoticed by Romney. “The president seemed to be willing to negotiate with Russians on matters he was hiding from the American people,” said Romney.
Sarah Palin on Russian threat (popwatch.ew.com photo)
Another Republican candidate considered naïve on national security was Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate in 2008. “After the Russian army invaded the nation of Georgia,” she said, “Senator Obama’s reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia’s Putin to invade Ukraine next.”
Foreign Policy, a magazine that publishes global news, mocked Palin, calling her scenario “far-fetched.”
As I draft this post, Russian troops have begun to make a move into Crimea, and Kerry has announced he will go to Kiev this week. Will those “costs for military intervention in Ukraine” be just another empty threat?
Every day, week and month that pass we see further evidence that community organizing with a brief stint in the senate does not a foreign policy expert make. Now, who appears naïve?
