Barack Obama fails to win Nato troops he wants for Afghanistan
Friday, April 3, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6032342.ece
Well, so much for Barack Obama's new approach for Europe. Just as I suspected, it is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The left liked to bash George Bush for his so-called inability to get along with our erstwhile European "allies." But when push came to shove, Barack Obama has done no better and in fact may have accomplished less on his European tour than President Bush was able to accomplish in previous meetings. On the economic front Obama has unable to get a consensus from his European friends over his call for economic stimulus spending in Europe. Instead he had imposed upon him a strict scheme of economic regulations which he has initially opposed.
And now NATO has given a thumbs down to Obama's call for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Isn't that what they criticized George Bush for? They said Bush was practicing a go it alone foreign policy without regard for our allies. But now it looks like Mr. Obama finds himself in the same situation, but don't look for the left wing media to point out this inconvenient fact.
Britain and a couple of others have offered token support, but other than that, as usual, we are on our own. But the thing is, Obama and his allies in the media probably won't be able to hide the facts from the American people for long. Sooner or later it will become painfully obvious that more and more Americans are dying in Afghanistan while the Europeans will mostly be taking a pass.
I was a big supporter of the Bush foreign policy, and I really believe that ultimately historians will validate what Bush was trying to accomplish. But for the time being we will be stuck with a foreign policy similar to the failed schemes tried by Jimmy Carter during his dismal presidency.
Fortunately, we are a strong and resilient nation, and ultimately more sensible policies will emerge, perhaps in the form of a new Republican administration in four or eight years. But in the mean time, be prepared for a very rocky ride. It will become obvious soon enough if it hasn't already that the American people elected a naive neophyte to the most important job in the world. And we will be soon be paying dearly for that tragic lapse in judgment.
Well, so much for Barack Obama's new approach for Europe. Just as I suspected, it is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The left liked to bash George Bush for his so-called inability to get along with our erstwhile European "allies." But when push came to shove, Barack Obama has done no better and in fact may have accomplished less on his European tour than President Bush was able to accomplish in previous meetings. On the economic front Obama has unable to get a consensus from his European friends over his call for economic stimulus spending in Europe. Instead he had imposed upon him a strict scheme of economic regulations which he has initially opposed.
And now NATO has given a thumbs down to Obama's call for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Isn't that what they criticized George Bush for? They said Bush was practicing a go it alone foreign policy without regard for our allies. But now it looks like Mr. Obama finds himself in the same situation, but don't look for the left wing media to point out this inconvenient fact.
Britain and a couple of others have offered token support, but other than that, as usual, we are on our own. But the thing is, Obama and his allies in the media probably won't be able to hide the facts from the American people for long. Sooner or later it will become painfully obvious that more and more Americans are dying in Afghanistan while the Europeans will mostly be taking a pass.
I was a big supporter of the Bush foreign policy, and I really believe that ultimately historians will validate what Bush was trying to accomplish. But for the time being we will be stuck with a foreign policy similar to the failed schemes tried by Jimmy Carter during his dismal presidency.
Fortunately, we are a strong and resilient nation, and ultimately more sensible policies will emerge, perhaps in the form of a new Republican administration in four or eight years. But in the mean time, be prepared for a very rocky ride. It will become obvious soon enough if it hasn't already that the American people elected a naive neophyte to the most important job in the world. And we will be soon be paying dearly for that tragic lapse in judgment.
