OBAMA CHANGES OUR FOREIGN POLICY

We are already seeing major signs that Obama’s new approach for settling disputes  is working. He said in the simplest of terms, “no boots on the ground” meaning we will help but if you want stability in your countries you have to fight for it. The sound of his voice had hardly stopped when myriad nay say-ers were punching at him from both the right and the left. Behind their rhetoric, they all have their own selfish purposes for criticizing the President. The usual low-life among us, including Chris Hayes and Rachael Maddow in a cheap fight for ratings and the Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, for example, who have no creatable basis at all, are among the most common. Unfortunately, some of them are my social media friends that publically reveal their ignorance by go on at length how they hate Obama for all the bad things he has done but when I challenge them to give just one example, they fall silent; they cannot do it because there have none. On the other hand, there are thoughtful conservatives who are sincerely concerned about the national debt and Obama’s support of “domestic” liberal programs; health care, food stamps, social security, minimum wage, same sex marriage, immigration, etc; they want it all but do not want to pay for taxes it. I post blogs constantly about these people, their attitudes, and what I see as the errors of their ways. Many conservatives are concerned about the long-term fall-out of his approach to foreign policy questions. Charles Krauthammer, an intellectual conservative, in his book, Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passion, Pastimes, and Politic (2013) beautifully explained conservative thinking; this in contrast to the unintelligible pronouncements like the ones we hear coming out of the mouths of McCain, Graham, and other less vocal politicians.

Conservative foreign policy is based on the premise that we deal with other countries on a “Might is Right” basis. This was the foundation for our foreign policy, what I call the Reagan foreign policy, but in truth, it was the same for both Democrats and Republicans; the one we have followed since the inception of United States foreign policy; “Our countries can be on friendly terms as long as you do exactly what we tell you”. Of course, this meant our industries would have access to all your work force, natural resources, and environment at a price we set. The IMF and World Bank, under “our” direction, used bully tactics to achieve this aim and generated hatred for us sustained around the world to this day. After we attacked Britain for empire building, we did away with the term ‘empire’ and decorated this form of malfeasance under the nicer name of ‘hegemony’ as if this would make what we were doing right. As Krauthammer explained, conservatives feel economic domination is desirable but treat the activity as if it is “moral order”; just as the strong father is the head of the family with an obedient wife and well-behaved children is somehow “moral order”; of course, all the countries in the entire world are the children and held as being subservient. This implies that it is morally correct to punish disobedient children—in fact, it is morally wrong not to punish them; the basis for “Might is right”.

Yesterday, standing before the UN, our President disavowed this conservative mantra as our foreign policy. He proudly said, “Might is Right”, is no longer United States policy, but rather “Right makes Might”. He not only said it but as those who follow these things know, he has been practicing it for over six years. The reason I mention Krauthammer is that he is one of the few conservatives who recognized what Obama is doing or at least he is the only one who articulated the thought. Stumbling, bumbling McCain tries to voice concern but can get no farther than bomb, bomb, bomb, with no idea of what he is really saying or why he is saying it. Several other conservative politicians say they do not like Obama’s foreign policy but cannot explain why. The say we have lost our leadership position in the world under Obama because they fail to understand the shift from fear to respect. As I have posted blogs before saying this, I was proud of “our” president Obama for having the courage to stand in front of the United Nations and say we are no longer the punk teenager dressed in a black trench coat armed with an assault rifle. We respect the rights and sovereignty of all nations; we are ready to gain and hold strength by being fair and cooperative to the benefit of all.

Under the direction of the United States and Obama’s outstanding leadership, the dispute with ISIS is changing the world in a remarkable way. His prescient declaration of “no boots on the ground” is at the heart of it. Many countries, both democracies and those transitioning from caliphate to democracy, including five Arab/Muslim nations and the regionally important Turkey, are joining us in protecting the rights of Syria and Iraq, sovereign nations at a vulnerable time in their histories, to survive an onslaught by a radical religious group because it is the right thing to do. Even Iran is talking about negotiating with the democratic world concerning it is nuclear ambitions. They are doing it because they respect us. All of this is remarkable beyond belief and would not happen in the “Might is Right” world of Charles Krauthammer or bomb, bomb McCain—it just would not happen!             

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