OK, here we go with my second installment of brief summaries from Hugh Hewitt's The Brief Against Obama" (see link at end of this post). These ten reasons emphasize issues related to Obama's foreign policy-related decisions and actions.
PART II: FOREIGN
POLICY
1.
Iranian
Appeasement (from chapter 11, “Standing by as Iranians Die”): This chapter focuses on Obama’s tepid
response to the bogus Iranian presidential election and subsequent crushing of the uprising by the
mullahs and Revolutionary Guard. Hewitt: “The opportunity came, and the opportunity
passed, to stand with the people of Iran and force change upon the regime.”
2.
Hostility
Toward Israel (from chapter 12, “Abandoning Israel to its Fate”): This chapter begins with Obama insulting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he came to the White House on
May 25, 2010, then documents other instances where Obama has demonstrated hostility toward Israel, such as declaring on May 22, 2011 that the borders of Israel and
Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines (called “the suicide lines” because
they are not defensible); Obama’s friendship with Rashid Khalidi (“a vociferous
critic of Israel”); demanding “unilateral sacrifice” from Israel
concerning the West Bank settlements; and insisting there’s a “moral equivalence”
when comparing Israel with terrorist organizations like Hamas (which refuses to
recognize Israel’s right to exist). Elaine’s Note: we could include Obama’s tepid treatment
of Iran, which has threatened to annihilate Israel.
3.
Deep
Budget Cuts in the Military (from chapter 13, “Hollowing Out the American
Military”): Obama’s proposed budget cuts have alarmed nonpartisan experts on
defense spending and military preparedness. Hewitt writes that these cuts will
“fundamentally impair America’s ability to play its historic role in the world
and its national security.” He concludes: “Peace through strength is expensive.
but it is cheaper to maintain defenses than to rebuild them.”
4.
Doing
Nothing to Stop Russia’s Return to its Imperialistic Ways (from chapter 14,
“’Resetting’ Russia Back to Great Power Status”): Hewitt documents a disturbing trend that shows Russia aspiring to return to its previous dominance and Obama's apparent disinterest in preventing this: during the 2008 presidential
campaign, Russia invades Georgia; in 2009 the United States abandoned its
commitment to deploy missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic at the
insistence of Russia; Russia protects Iran in the U.N. Security Council and has
maintained economic and military ties with Iran; Russia also used its position
on the Security Council to minimize official reports about the Iranian nuclear
program despite credible evidence to the contrary; Russia used its Security
Council veto to suppress a U.N. report that showed Iran shipping weapons to
Syria, which passed these weapons to Lebanese and Palestinian militants; Obama
was caught on tape quietly telling President Medvedev that “this is my last
election,” and that after his election he would have more flexibility.
5.
Obama’s
Doctrine of Retreat (from chapter 15, “Abandoning Iraq and Afghanistan”):
One of Obama’s campaign pledges was that he would end the Iraq war and bring our
troops home. His decision to do this in October 21, 2011, may have been popular
but Hewitt maintains in this chapter that Obama’s “bland assurance that the ‘tide of war is receding’ is a
dangerous illusion and one that will lead to wars far greater in fury and cost
than those fought in the last decade—as weakness in the face of aggressive
outlaw states always does.”
Elaine’s Note: This is a disturbing chapter. Here are Mr. Hewitt’s
closing words: “This president is forfeiting victories he did not win in the
service of, at best, a defeatist view of American power and, at worst, a
malignant one that views America’s necessary projection of force as
imperialism. America has been defeated on the battlefield before. But President
Obama is the first commander-in-chief to count the sacrifice of American lives
so cheap as to give to our enemies the ground that our soldiers, sailors,
airmen, and Marines have won at such great cost. It is a shameful act, and he
deserves defeat on this point alone…”
6.
Obama’s
Failure to Address the Issue of Border Security (from chapter 16, “Ignoring
the Border”): This chapter documents how Obama pledged to tackle the issue of
illegal immigration, including related issues having to do with increasing
employers’ accountability on hiring illegal workers, and some policies related
to the border fence. Hewitt points out that despite these and other
assurances that Obama would deal with securing our border, “the border remains
wildly unsecure." Instead, Obama’s focus on immigration issues has been on the
social issues related to immigration policy. Hewitt concludes this chapter by
stating that “President Obama has thoroughly abandoned his pledges about border
security.”
7.
Deterioration
of Relationship with China (from chapter 17, “Bowing to China”): This
chapter contains a lengthy excerpt of an interview Hugh conducted with Henry
Kissinger, as well as a brief excerpt from an interview with Jon Huntsman
(Obama’s first ambassador to China). He refers to the image of President Obama
bowing before the president of the PRC in April 2010, and how this picture
symbolizes how Obama’s presidency has resulted in the loss of respect for
America in the eyes of China and abroad.
8.
Passivity
in Dealing with North Korean Aggression (from chapter 18, “Ignoring North
Korea”): This chapter documents how North Korea stepped away from the
“Six-Party Talks” which began during the Bush administration (and which Obama
had criticized as inadequate when he was a senator) in order to address North
Korea’s nuclear program. North Korea proceeded to test a medium-range missile,
violating a U.N. Security Council resolution. Obama didn’t deal with this
breach directly—rather, he appealed to the United Nations and urged North Korea
to “abide fully” by the resolutions and “refrain from further provocative
actions.” Hewitt concludes this chapter: "The consequences of Obama’s abundant
weakness, fecklessness, indecision, and habits of apology combined with
practices of retreat have sent all the wrong messages to the lunatics running
North Korea.”
Elaine’s Note: Reading this chapter, I was reminded of a scene in
“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” when Mr. Wonka watches one of the
naughty children gorge on candy and feebly says, “Stop, stop.” Of course,
they don’t. Why should they?
9.
Leading
from Behind (from chapter 19, “Naïveté and the Arab Spring”): Another
painful chapter to read, especially since these events are so vivid in the
mind. Hewitt recounts these events and the upheaval that took place in Tunisia,
Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and throughout the Middle East in 2001 and Obama’s
tepid responses. Hewitt sums it up: “That timeline and those excerpts
of official statements underscore the hopelessly naïve, chaotic, and
incompetent approach that President Obama brought with him to the White House.”
The “leading from behind” reference, by the way, was originally mentioned in an
article written by Ryan Lizza of The New
Yorker, and the description apparently came from Obama’s senior team, who
apparently were trying to spin Obama’s passive leadership style (“leading from behind”)
as a conscious choice.
10. Ordering the Closure of Guantanamo Bay (from chapter 20,
“Gitmo and the Trials of Terrorists”): Interesting that even a
Democratically-controlled Congress didn’t go along with their leader, actually
voting (90-6 in the Senate) to block funding that would be needed to close
Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. Despite Obama’s best efforts to fulfill his
campaign promise, G.B. is still open, as it should be, as Hewitt rightly notes.
Elaine’s Comment: Another frustrating chapter. All of Obama's annoying demagoguery, his talk of returning America to the “moral high ground” in the
war on terrorism (implying that Bush was taking the moral low ground); his reference to a “false choice” between our safety and our ideals and of “restoring the
standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this
country great” when dealing with terrorism (implying that Bush was violating
these values). It’s all rhetoric, because he ultimately concedes—in actions, not
words—that the Bush approach was, in fact, the best and really the only
approach when dealing with these “unlawful combatants” who now despise America
even more than they did when Bush was president because they see us as weak—and
rightly so, because this president has
made us appear weak.
To read my first installment on this blog, go here.
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