President Obama told George Stephanolpoulos this morning that critics of his Syrian "policy" were more concerned about style than substance and that Obama himself does not worry about "style points". It was a laughable attempt by Obama to reframe a debate about a failed policy which embarrassed both Obama and the country and which reduced American influence in the Middle East while greatly helping Russia.
Let's consider just this: Obama announce long ago that the policy of the United States was that "Assad must go". That is not style; it is substance. The president of the USA says that regime change is the goal in Syria. Now, the result of the latest "diplomacy" is to cement Assad into place and to prevent any American action to help the rebels to oust him. Once again, this is not style; it is the heart of substance.
Then there is this: three weeks ago, Russia was an international pariah because it was sending arms to Assad and covering for him with regard to his use of chemical weapons. Today, thanks to president Obama (and some great moves by Vladimir Putin), Russia is now a "peacemaker" who will be allowed to continue to arm Assad for the foreseeable future. This too is not style; it is substance.
Let's all hope that the chemical weapons that the Syrians possess actually get destroyed. Right now, the odds of that happening are still less than 50-50. Every chemical weapons destroyed, however, will be a victory for civilization. At the same time, let's not fool ourselves that the policy in place is a victory for the USA or Obama. America's leadership was outwitted by the Kremlin. Obama showed himself to be in totally over his head when it came to world affairs.
For years, I thought that many of Obama's policies regarding other nations were sly moves designed to accomplish an unstated goal. I am sure you have heard pundits who explain that Obama wants to weaken American leadership in the world. I am also sure that you have heard others who say that he wants to restore American leadership by ending the "cowboy" diplomacy of the Bush years. I think that the only proper conclusion to draw from the Syrian debacle, however, is that both sides are wrong. In reality, Obama is not trying to do either of those. He is simply a man who has no clue how to manage foreign policy. He has surrounded himself with advisors who also have no clue how to manage foreign policy. As a group, these folks have just been reacting to events while otherwise treating foreign policy like a political campaign or a church meeting. Hillary Clinton did not want to increase security in Benghazi because she thought the optics would be bad. In short, she worried about how the move would appear in a political context rather than reacting to a very real threat to the safety of American men and women. Samantha Power and Susan Rice talk about the morality of foreign policy and the need to protect innocents but never seem to worry about how to do that. As a result we see half baked policies like Obama's red line for chemical weapons that get announced but which never, never see anyone follow up on them.
So, Mr. President, your critics are not talking about style points. They are talking about the major failures in the substance of your policies. You have made America weaker. You have made the world a more dangerous place. Just to be clear, (in case your advisors don't understand), that is not a good thing.
Let's consider just this: Obama announce long ago that the policy of the United States was that "Assad must go". That is not style; it is substance. The president of the USA says that regime change is the goal in Syria. Now, the result of the latest "diplomacy" is to cement Assad into place and to prevent any American action to help the rebels to oust him. Once again, this is not style; it is the heart of substance.
Then there is this: three weeks ago, Russia was an international pariah because it was sending arms to Assad and covering for him with regard to his use of chemical weapons. Today, thanks to president Obama (and some great moves by Vladimir Putin), Russia is now a "peacemaker" who will be allowed to continue to arm Assad for the foreseeable future. This too is not style; it is substance.
Let's all hope that the chemical weapons that the Syrians possess actually get destroyed. Right now, the odds of that happening are still less than 50-50. Every chemical weapons destroyed, however, will be a victory for civilization. At the same time, let's not fool ourselves that the policy in place is a victory for the USA or Obama. America's leadership was outwitted by the Kremlin. Obama showed himself to be in totally over his head when it came to world affairs.
For years, I thought that many of Obama's policies regarding other nations were sly moves designed to accomplish an unstated goal. I am sure you have heard pundits who explain that Obama wants to weaken American leadership in the world. I am also sure that you have heard others who say that he wants to restore American leadership by ending the "cowboy" diplomacy of the Bush years. I think that the only proper conclusion to draw from the Syrian debacle, however, is that both sides are wrong. In reality, Obama is not trying to do either of those. He is simply a man who has no clue how to manage foreign policy. He has surrounded himself with advisors who also have no clue how to manage foreign policy. As a group, these folks have just been reacting to events while otherwise treating foreign policy like a political campaign or a church meeting. Hillary Clinton did not want to increase security in Benghazi because she thought the optics would be bad. In short, she worried about how the move would appear in a political context rather than reacting to a very real threat to the safety of American men and women. Samantha Power and Susan Rice talk about the morality of foreign policy and the need to protect innocents but never seem to worry about how to do that. As a result we see half baked policies like Obama's red line for chemical weapons that get announced but which never, never see anyone follow up on them.
So, Mr. President, your critics are not talking about style points. They are talking about the major failures in the substance of your policies. You have made America weaker. You have made the world a more dangerous place. Just to be clear, (in case your advisors don't understand), that is not a good thing.
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