Leftist in today's vernacular generally means one of more of the following: liberal, socialist, marxist, collectivist, communist, statist, atheist, progressive.
Take a strong position means having principles and having the will to stand for them and the strength to back them up if challenged.
What makes me an authority----experience, education (harvard MBA) world travel, international business, 60+ years of living, financial success, personal and family success, religion, compassion for the poor and sick, hard work.
Now, tell us why anyone should place any value on your opinions.
LOL, this is the internet and even if one element of what you claim is true, the fact remains your response is ridiculous and demonstrates a complete lack of critical thinking framed by historical events.
One example should suffice: You claim to, "Take a strong position means having principles and having the will to stand for them and the strength to back them up if challenged."
What is a "strong position"? Cowboy Diplomacy, sending the fleet and a couple of carrier groups and setting up a blockade, breaking off all back channel talks? How about some detail? Since you're so self assured and have that Harvard MBA, you must have thought about what you mean by "strong position" and how The President and Secretary of State should have acted.
Obama and Kerry have been prudent, strong, pragmatic and for the moment successful. No one is prescient, least of all you if the body of your work on this forum is any indication. The future is a mystery waiting to be unveiled, and the past is a good measure of what works and what does not. But is cannot predict future events. Some of what I learned at CAL taking courses within my double major - history and poli sci (which included course work in International Relations).
The one certainty is human nature, and the strategy of the Obama Administration suggests this variable is one they properly consider. I suggest you compare the following lesson learned with the former Bush Administration and that of President Obama's (if of course anything you claim is true and you're not the willfully ignorant parrot I believe):
From Robert McNamara's 1995 book "In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam"
1.We misjudged then and we have since the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries
and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of their actions.
2.We viewed the people and leaders of South Vietnam in terms of our own experience
We totally misjudged the political forces within the country.
3.We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values.
4.Our misjudgments of friend and foe, alike, reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.
5.We failed then and have since to recognize the limitations of modern, high-technology military equipment, forces, and doctrine. We failed, as well, to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds of people from a totally different culture.
6.We failed to draw Congress and the American people into a full and frank discussion and debate of the pros and cons of a large-scale military involvement
before we initiated the action.
7.After the action got under way, and unanticipated events forced us off our planned course
we did not fully explain what was happening, and why we were doing what we did.
8.We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient. Our judgment of what is in another people's or country's best interest should be put to the test of open discussion in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our image or as we choose.
9.We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action
should be carried out only in conjunction with multinational forces supported fully (and not merely cosmetically) by the international community.
10.We failed to recognize that in international affairs, as in other aspects of life, there may be problems for which there are no immediate solutions
At times, we may have to live with an imperfect, untidy world.
11.Underlying many of these errors lay our failure to organize the top echelons of the executive branch to deal effectively with the extraordinarily complex range of political and military issues.