Obama strains international relationship

[MtnBiker]

Our key ally in the war on terror is showing strain, Britian's Defense Secratery Bob Ainsworth;



Mr Ainsworth took the unprecedented step of publicly criticising the US President and his delays in sending more troops to bolster the mission against the Taliban.

A “period of hiatus” in Washington - and a lack of clear direction - had made it harder for ministers to persuade the British public to go on backing the Afghan mission in the face of a rising death toll, he said.

http://http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/6646179/Bob-Ainsworth-criticises-Barack-Obama-over-Afghanistan.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/6646179/Bob-Ainsworth-criticises-Barack-Obama-over-Afghanistan.html)

However the solution is quite easy and simple. All Obama needs to do fly over to England show up at Mr Ainsworth office with a crew of media armed with cameras and take a nice long at the waist bow, making sure to stick he ass way out and apologies for America's faults.

And as a bonus, mutter something about inheritance.

[jimnyc]

I have friends from all over the world (Algeria, Morocco, London, France, Iran, Jordan, Australia... I think that's it!). Believe it or not, their views tend to lean towards liberal, but they are almost all in agreement that Obama seems to be on an "appeaser" tour throughout the world, and doesn't have the balls to follow up on his statements about Afghanistan that he spoke of during the campaign trail.

Now my opinion... He's obviously, along with his party, making these decisions based on politics and elections, and not with our country and soldiers in mind. If he had our soldiers in mind, he would have honored his word from the campaign trail and this whole controversy of him sitting on decisions about Afghanistan, while our soldiers die, wouldn't even be a topic.

[namvet]

he's susposed to let us know by dec 1. standby

[Kathianne]

Even the 'left' in this country continues to have problems with Obama's foreign policies or lack of such:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574426812788385256.html


SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
Obama's Befuddling Afghan Policy
Why is the president hesitating on more troops to fight his 'war of necessity'?
By LESLIE H. GELB

I'm lost on President Barack Obama's Afghanistan policy—along with most of Congress and the U.S. military. Not quite eight months ago, Mr. Obama pledged to "defeat" al Qaeda in Afghanistan by transforming that country's political and economic infrastructure, training Afghan forces and adding 21,000 U.S. forces for starters. He proclaimed Afghanistan's strategic centrality to prevent Muslim extremism from taking over Pakistan—an even more vital nation because of its nuclear weapons. And a mere three weeks ago, he punctuated his commitments by proclaiming that Afghanistan is a "war of necessity," not one of choice. White House spokesmen reinforced this by promising that the president would "fully resource" the war.

Yet less than one week ago, Mr. Obama said the following about troop increases: "I'm going to take a very deliberate process in making those decisions. There is no immediate decision pending on resources, because one of the things that I'm absolutely clear about is you have to get the strategy right and then make a determination about resources." He repeated that on Sunday's talk shows.

Are we now to understand that he made all those previous declarations and decisions without a strategy he was committed to? Prior to his recent statements, it seemed clear that the president and his advisers had adopted a strategy already—the counterinsurgency one—and that Gen. Stanley McChrystal was tapped precisely because he would implement that plan. The idea, to repeat, was to deploy forces sufficient to clear territory of Taliban threats, hold that territory, and build up the sinews of the country behind that....

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-22/think-before-you-travel



Amateur Hour at the White House
by Leslie H. Gelb


The Asia trip was not worth Obama's time. Leslie H. Gelb on why the president should shake up his foreign policy team—and make sure the deals are done before he leaves home.
President Obama’s nine-day trip to Asia is worth a look back to fix two potent problems, past and future. First, the trip’s limited value per day of presidential effort suggests a disturbing amateurishness in managing America’s power. On top of the inexcusably clumsy review of Afghan policy and the fumbling of Mideast negotiations, the message for Mr. Obama should be clear: He should stare hard at the skills of his foreign-policy team and, more so, at his own dominant role in decision-making. Something is awry somewhere, and he’s got to fix it...

...That U.S. policy was the main missing ingredient on Obama’s trip. Washington played architect and solidified its leadership in Europe after World War II with NATO, the Marshall Plan, and various trade and economic organizations like the World Bank. Asian nations are yearning for the same kind of creativity today from a brilliant American president in the new Pacific Era.

Leslie H. Gelb, a former New York Times columnist and senior government official, is author of Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy (HarperCollins 2009), a book that shows how to think about and use power in the 21st century. He is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

November 22, 2009 | 10:50pm | | |

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