Imagining Obama's First 100 Days of Appeasement and Retreat
Michael Gerson has laid out for us, in all it's splendor, what the first 100 days of an Obama Presidency would look like in terms of Foreign Policy. What he projects as Obama's initiatives are logical steps to fulfill his desire to stop, what Obama terms "bullying," by the United States. Instead, an Obama administration would wholly embrace "appeasement, protectionism, and retreat." Here is part of Gerson's outstanding article:
As a thought experiment, consider the foreign policy achievements of Obama's first 100 days.
Redeeming his Inaugural pledge to "pay any price, bear any burden, fly any distance to meet with our enemies," Obama's first major international meeting is with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. National security adviser Samantha Power does her best to talk tough on human rights in preparation for the meeting. But, as Henry Kissinger once said, "When talks become their own objective, they are at the mercy of the party most prepared to break them off." Having made Iranian talks "without precondition" his major foreign policy goal, Obama is left with little leverage to extract concessions, and little choice but to move forward.
The New York Post runs a front-page picture of the Obama/Ahmadinejad handshake under the headline "Surrender Summit!" The story notes another of Obama's historic firsts: the first American president to meet with a Holocaust denier. The Israeli prime minister publicly asks, "Why is the American president meeting with a leader who calls us 'filthy bacteria' and threatens to wipe us 'off the map'?" Tens of thousands protest in Tel Aviv, carrying signs reading "Chamberlain Lives!"
America's moderate Arab allies in the region also feel betrayed, assuming that America is cutting a bilateral deal with Iran that accepts its nuclear ambitions, while leaving the Sunni powers out in the cold. The Egyptian press notes that President Obama's motorcade in Tehran passed near a street named in honor of Khaled Eslamboli, the assassin of President Anwar Sadat.
Shell-shocked by the criticism, the Obama administration moves its forthcoming presidential summit with Raul Castro to the Turks and Caicos, in a vain attempt to limit press scrutiny. The four-minute, Friday evening meeting -- photographers are forbidden -- still results in hundreds of thousands of Cuban protesters in Miami. Spouses of the imprisoned and tortured carry pictures of their loved ones. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez praises Obama's visit as a "public apology for generations of American imperialism and militarism."
At the same time, the Obama administration is arm-twisting Mexico and Canada into a renegotiation of NAFTA. The Mexican president wonders aloud to the press: "Why is the new president courting his enemies in the hemisphere while insulting his closest friends?"
Obama's Oval Office speech to the nation on Iraq is initially more successful. As promised, he orders a phased, unconditional withdrawal of combat forces, beginning "not in six months or one year -- now." American troops will no longer be embedded in Iraqi combat units or used to combat Iranian influence (all pledges made during his campaign).
Many Americans cheer. But the next day, The Washington Post records stunned disbelief among the troops. A high-ranking officer observes, "The surest way to break the morale of the military is to undo its achievements and humiliate it on the verge of success." Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni allies react with panic at another sign of American unsteadiness and retreat from the region. Armed groups of Sunni and Shiites within Iraq begin preparing for a resumption of sectarian conflict. An intercepted al-Qaeda communication talks of "so much defeat, exhaustion and death -- and then, praise be, this unexpected victory!"
Obama's 100-day agenda would be designed, in part, to improve America's global image. But there is something worse than being unpopular in the world -- and that is being a pleading, panting joke. By simultaneously embracing appeasement, protectionism and retreat, President Obama would manage to make Jimmy Carter look like Teddy Roosevelt.
Which is why President Obama would probably not take these actions -- at least in the form he has pledged. Sitting behind the Resolute desk is a sobering experience that makes foolish campaign promises seem suddenly less binding.
But it is a bad sign for a candidate when the best we can hope is for him to violate his commitments. And that's a good sign for John McCain.
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Awesome and Frightening!
I saw this earlier on RCP...Hard hitting and needs wide circulation...I read it to my HRC loving mother this morning and even she was impressed...the sad truth is that it's not even the half of the possible reality
Jumping the Gun?
I am an independent. I, like most of us, see war as a terrible, terrible thing that occasionally must happen in order to defend our liberty and our principles. However, it is not something that should be entered into lightly. The cost in terms of dollars, but more importantly in terms of the lives and health of our proud military should not be sacrificed unless it is absolutely necessary. I do NOT think we should be appeasing terrorist, but does that mean we can't talk to them. Seems to me those are two different things. Terrorism is a hostile reaction to real or perceived injustice. The US is great country, but we are not right about everything all the time. No country is. There are always things we can do better. Why not clear the air? Why not try to dispel the world's perception that we are a bully? We should be leading the world, not on the basis of our military strength, but on the strength of our liberty and our values. Does this make sense?
trouble is, mate, that we
trouble is, mate, that we are at war, and I do NOT mean just in Iraq. Since we are at war, and are dedicated, I trust, to WINNING it, we need to lead with military strength. "nuff said...