As is my habit, I have been studying the approaches and philosophies Obama has been phasing in in the first year of his presidency. Although he deserves some credit in his support of the Patriot Act, a successful albeit indecisive outcome with the Somali pirate escapade, and bucking his constituency on terrorist surveillance, much of his other initiatives are troubling at best.
His premature announcement of a deadline for closure of Guantanamo without a clear plan for how to deal with the prisoners was his first rookie mistake. I know his left-wing worshippers loved the announcement, but like them, he fails to understand the consequences of such shallow and reckless decisions.
His consistent anti-American rhetoric, in an emerging pattern that clearly shows the world that he isn't a fan of his own country, may delight his left-wing consituency as well, but effectively projects weakness to the rest of the world. His recent speech at the United Nations clearly emboldened the rogue dictators in attendance, who went so far as to publicly state their wish that he could be installed as the permanent American president. When ruthless dictators such as Chavez, Qadaffi, and Ahmadinejad offer praise, it certainly isn't because they've suddenly decided to get their acts together and behave.
Obama has made it abundantly clear that he has no intention of taking meaninful steps to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program. The announced agreement, with Iran agreeing to have their fissle material processed by Russia, is certainly a PR move by Iran with Russia's covert support to fool the naieve new American president.
In the meantime, Obama searches for an elegant rationale for abandoning Afghanistan. He was reportedly seriously angry with his commanding general there, with whom he had spoken with a grand total of one time before being shamed into meeting with him briefly when that fact escaped the control of his sychophant media. General McCrystal had the temerity to participate in public interviews and gave a speech, in which he stated the simple fact that if America hopes to salvage the effort in Afghanistan, he'll need at least 40K more troops. Otherwise, the mission will fail.
Obama knows he'll get strung up by his liberal constituents, and probably doesn't believe he would get much conservative credit for making such a decision as long as he continues pushing his socialist domestic agenda. Thus the floating of a variety of Afghanistan "alternatives" through his loyal media outlets. He seems to be moving toward a strategy of abandoning Afghanistan and focusing instead on neighboring Pakistan, where the Taliban find support, rest, and resupply between attacks on Americans and Afghans trying to establish some semblance of order.
Illustrative of Obama's inability to understand and implement the right strategies in national security matters is his trip to Denmark to pitch Chicago to host the 2012 Olympic Games. It seems clear now that Chicago's bid was hanging by a thread, so Obama's buddies from the Windy City asked him for help.
The glimpse into Obama's stunning narcissism was on full display, as both he and his wife spoke to the Olympic committee about ... themselves. The president had clearly decided that Chicago should be awarded the Olympic Games simply because of his own awesomeness.
How is that relevant to the foreign policy and national security issue?
It may be the most important factor in explaining Obama's seeming lack of serious understanding of the threats facing our country. His narcissistic self-importance actually makes him believe that he can win over our enemies through the force of his personality. And a dose of pacifism.
Thus the unilateral and sudden cancellation of the missile defense systems in Poland and the Czeck Republic. He apparently felt that by giving Russia such a gesture, thus proving he's a stand-up guy, Putin would reciprocate. Perhaps in the form of joining Obama in isolating Iran and stopping their nuclear arms program.
Did Russia reciprocate? Not as far as anyone can tell. Instead, they thanked him and continued their march toward reunification of the old Soviet bloc.
Clearly, Americans won't take this seriously until the next 9/11. I don't say that as a partisan who sort of hopes that will happen; instead, I am looking in sadness at what seems inevitable.
Will it happen before or after a nuke explodes over Israel? Will it be a nuke in one of our own cities? I still hope not, but if so, what a costly lesson we will be forced to learn.
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