|
|
The
views expressed
on this page are soley those of the author and do not
necessarily
represent the views of County News Online
|
 |
Washington Post
Obama sets his
own pace in a world whirling with crises
By Karen DeYoung and Dan Balz
August 31
Short of world war, it’s rare that a chief executive goes through a
foreign policy month like President Obama’s August.
U.S. warplanes struck in Iraq for the first time in years, as U.S.
diplomats struggled to establish a new government in Baghdad. Islamic
State militants beheaded an American journalist in Syria and spread
their reach across the Middle East.
War raged between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In Afghanistan, U.S. plans
for an orderly exit at the end of the year teetered on the brink of
disaster. Russia all but invaded Ukraine and dared Obama to stop it.
Libya descended into violent chaos.
As events cascaded, Obama juggled rounds of vacation golf with public
statements addressing the conflicts. But his cool demeanor, and the
split-screen imagery of a president at play and at work, seemed
ill-matched to the moment.
Then came a Thursday news conference and a comment that only reinforced
criticism of a president neither fully engaged nor truly leaning into
world problems. Speaking of the Islamic State, he said, “We don’t have
a strategy yet.”
The statement may have had the virtue of candor, as Obama weighs the
military and diplomatic components of a U.S. response and seeks support
from other nations. But it hardly projects an image of presidential
resolve or decisiveness at a time of international turmoil.
Republicans pounced on the statement. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), speaking
Friday in Texas, said, “If the president has no strategy, maybe it’s
time for a new president.” He said in a later e-mail that he would call
a joint session of Congress to seek authority “to destroy ISIS
militarily,” using another name for the Islamic State. Texas Gov. Rick
Perry accused Obama of “lurching from crisis to crisis, always one step
behind.”
On Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.)
said Obama’s comments show that his foreign policy is “in an absolute
free fall.”
“If you look at China, you look at ISIS, you look at Russia, you look
at Iran and North Korea, we have a serious host of problems presenting
itself, and our traditional allies are now standing up and saying,
‘Well, maybe America is not the best one to lead us through these
troubles,’ ” Rogers said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Some Democrats also express dismay at Obama’s pace. “I think I’ve
learned one thing about this president, and that is he’s very cautious.
Maybe in this instance, too cautious,” Senate Intelligence Committee
Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the
Press.” The Islamic State, she said, is a “vicious, vicious movement.
And it has to be confronted.”
White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Obama will continue to
move at his own speed to respond to these crises, regardless of
criticism. “There’s no timetable for solving these problems that’s
going to meet the cable news cycle speed,” he said. “It’s not a tenable
thing. We’d much rather do this right than do it quickly. We tried the
opposite [during the Bush years] and it worked out very poorly.”
This week, Obama will have an opportunity to show global leadership at
a crisis-packed summit with European allies. Immediately afterward,
Secretary of State John F. Kerry will travel to the Middle East, where
potential partners, waiting to see whether Obama has the capacity to
chart a clear, decisive course, are hoping for direction...
Read the rest of the article at The Washington Post... it's long but worth it.
|
|
|
|
