Conditions at home and abroad are such that no possible foreign policy can succeed at the present time. America's political system is paralyzed and it people angry, fearful and quarrelsome like pre-schoolers in need of a nap.
The Cold War global alignment of First, Second, and Third World teams of nations has broken down completely and a stable paradigm of global national interests has yet to emerge.
The good news is that the new chaos and the new American helplessness seem to not involve wars between nations although bloody civil strife is tragically common in countries (not all of them members of the old Third World) whose political mechanisms are unable to contain ethnic or ideological conflicts.
So, the bottom line is that Kerry can't fix anything. Obama can't fix anything either and neither can Putin. The upcoming elections in the EU and the USA are both likely to make the problem worse, not better. While there may be number of theoretical solutions to the world's problems, no nation or group of nations is capable of implementing any of them at the present time. LIke I said, we are pre-schoolers in need of a nap.
"....no possible foreign policy can succeed...."
Well, not if the present occupant of the White House is in charge.
Face facts: the man was never prepared to wield the power of the presidency.
Failure....starting from day one.
1. Biden: Obama will be tested:
"It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."
Biden: Obama will be tested - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com
Even Biden knew this guy was a lightweight!
a. There is some doubt that Senator Obama knew who the president of France was.
Obama writes letter to Chirac - blogosphere goes crazy - CSMonitor.com
b. And, this Illinois senator suggested that he would offer American diplomatic intervention to aid Pakistan toward Kashmir.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Barack-Obamas-Kashmir-thesis/380615/
c. The Obama White House misspelled the name of the president of Brazil.
Lula And Obama Meet On Saturday To Discuss Financial Crisis, Regional Politics
d. Obama refuses to support the rule of law in Honduras.
The Rougblog: Another Obama Gaffe in Foreign Policy
2. The Iranian regime, having spent the first couple of weeks of Barack Obama's presidency preemptively scorning his overtures, mocking his weakness, and assuring the world its nuclear program is nonnegotiable, last Tuesday reported it had launched a satellite into orbit, making clear that Iran intends to have a missile launch capability on which to deploy its nuclear warheads.
Testing 1-2-3 | The Weekly Standard
a. In the last several days it has been reported that Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles in Venezuela. Such information seems to confirm last Novembers article published by the German daily Die Welt. The newspaper reported that an agreement was signed last October between the two countries; a fact that has remained mostly unknown to the public.
Breitbart News: Big Peace
3. On the same day as the Iranian satellite launch, it was reported that, under pressure and inducements from Russia, Kyrgyzstan would no longer allow the United States to use an airbase that supports coalition military operations in Afghanistan. This came as Obama plans to increase U.S. force levels in Afghanistan, and the already overburdened supply lines from Pakistan seem increasingly vulnerable to attacks from Taliban forces in that country's frontier areas. (
Testing 1-2-3 | The Weekly Standard.)
a. And, continued to back down: Barack Obama has abandoned the controversial Pentagon plan to build a missile defence system in Europe that had long soured relations with Russia.
Obama abandons missile defence shield in Europe | World news | theguardian.com
b. Announcing the formation of a rapid reaction force with six former Soviet republics, a regional Russian-led strike force meant to reassert Russian hegemony in the Muslim belt north of Afghanistan.
Krauthammer: Obama faces foreign tests and shows a lack of spine - Houston Chronicle
c. Planning to establish a Black Sea naval base in Georgias breakaway province of Abkhazia, conquered by Moscow last summer. (ibid.)
d. Obama begs Russians not to make him look bad before the election: Obama tells Russia's Medvedev more flexibility after election
Obama tells Russia's Medvedev more flexibility after election | Reuters
e. "Russia has deployed S-400 mobile surface-to-air missiles along the Polish and Lithuanian border in Kaliningrad, bnn-news.com reports referring to the Russian newspaper Izvestia."
Russia deploys S-400 missile defence in Kaliningrad | The Lithuania TribuneThe Lithuania Tribune
4. And on that very same day, North Korea, having in the first week of the Obama presidency scrapped all its agreements with South Korea and warned of war on the Korean peninsula, was reported to be preparing to test a new ballistic missile, the Taepodong-2, which is intended to eventually have a long enough range to hit U.S. territory. Kristol, (op. cit.)
De Borchgrave: Obama Administration 'Totally Blind' in Confronting North Korea
Read more on Newsmax.com: De Borchgrave: Obama Administration 'Totally Blind' in Confronting North Korea
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!
a. Foreign policy expert Arnaud de Borchgrave tells Newsmax that U.S. intelligence agencies exhibited serious flaws in being totally blind to the death of North Korea leader Kim Jong Il.
Despite the massive resources of the United States 16 intelligence services, with100,000 employees and an annual combined budget of about $80 billion a year, they didnt know about Kims death on Saturday until North Korea finally announced it on Sunday, the award-winning journalist noted during an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV.
De Borchgrave: Obama Administration 'Totally Blind' in Confronting North Korea
5. Pakistan freed from house arrest A.Q. Khan, the notorious proliferator who sold nuclear technology to North Korea, Libya and Iran. Ten days later, Islamabad capitulated to the Taliban, turning over to its tender mercies the Swat Valley, 100 miles from the capital. Not only will sharia law now reign there, but the democratically elected secular party will be hunted down as the Pakistani army stands down. Krauthammer, (op. cit.)
So, is this President capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time? Is he competent to juggle all of the responsibilities of his office? Perhaps not, based on his inane statement to CNN's Anderson Cooper, in February of 2009: "Look, the only measure of my success as president, when people look back five years from now or nine years from now, is going to be, did I get this economy fixed?"
6. With three years to negotiate with Iraq on a basis for leaving an American troop presence in Iraq to serve as a counterbalance to Iranian pressure in post war Iraq, and to protect the American diplomats and embassy there, he was unable to!
Rather than this event as one of promise-keeping, it is one more sign of the incompetence of this President.
He has no more achievements in foreign policy than in domestic.
"The formation will be distributed as follows: 8,000 servicemen labeled US diplomats would be attached to operations command centers housed in secret, secure quarters at the embassy in Baghdad and in US consulates in Iraqi cities, including missions yet to be opened, states the report. Another 7,000 troops were classified as US security officers 4,000 for protecting US diplomats and 3,000 as military instructors.
Prison Planet.com » 15,000 US Troops to Remain In Iraq, Renamed Diplomats
(the source is the Depka File)
By way of comparison, the US has some 60,000 troops in Europe.
BBC NEWS | Americas | US troops to remain in Europe
7. Failure to destroy the drone that landed in Iran is a dereliction of duty.
At the very least, this shows why the idea of Obama as commander in chief is absurd and laughable. Who ever heard of a Commander who was afraid to command troops into battle? At its worst, it shows a conspiracy theory of the highest magnitude. Many could rightly conclude that Obamas refusal to either destroy or recapture the drone would prove that he purposely gave them the drone.
EXPOSED! Obama REFUSED To Recapture Or Destroy Million Dollar Drone In Iran - Now The End Begins : Now The End Begins
8. Another foreign policy failure by the pretender in the White House:
The United States is "disgusted" by Russia and China's decision to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution today that called for an immediate end to the violence in Syria, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said today
.The vetoes came after a week of intense negotiations to gain Russian support for a resolution it had opposed from the start. The resolution supported an Arab League plan that called for an immediate end to the violence in Syria and a political solution to the crisis.
http://news.yahoo.com/us-disgusted-russia-china-veto-un-resolution-end-184027274--abc-news.html
9. Alienated
Poland
Honduras
Israel
Canada
Britain
Czech Republic
10. Obama engagement policy 'in tatters' after North Korean rocket defiance
US officials expect Pyongyang to carry out third nuclear test in near future, respresenting significant policy failure for president.. Barack Obama's policy of engagement with North Korea lies "in tatters" after it was effectively shot down by Pynongyang's defiant but failed attempt to launch a long-range rocket.
Former US officials closely involved with North Korea policy said Washington's attempt to win agreement from Pyongyang to abandon its development of nuclear weapons and rockets in exchange for desperately-needed food aid has failed.
Obama engagement policy 'in tatters' after North Korean rocket defiance | World news | theguardian.com
11. 1."WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's prime minister said Wednesday he wasn't completely satisfied with a White House explanation that President Barack Obama misspoke when he referred to "Polish death camps" during a ceremony honoring a World War II hero, saying he wants a "stronger, more pointed" response.
2.The phrasing is considered hugely offensive in Poland, where Nazi Germany murdered Poles, Jews and others in death camps it built during World War II on Polish and German territory.
3. Poles have responded with outrage, maintaining Obama should have called it a "German death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland," to distinguish the perpetrators from the location.
4. Donald Tusk said he was accepting a White House explanation that Obama misspoke but was still waiting for a "stronger, more pointed reaction" that could eliminate the phrasing "once and for all."
5. Tusk said it was a "matter of the U.S.'s reputation." He hinted it should include facts about Nazi Germany's brutal occupation of Poland.
6. Former President and Solidarity founder Lech Walesa said the phrase confused henchmen with their victims...
7. The Polish Embassy in Washington, on its website, has a "how-to guide" on concentration camps that states that references to Polish death camps are "factually incorrect slurs" that should be corrected."
Obama 'Polish death camp' reference: Poles outraged over president's comment
12. This story hasnt gotten much traction in the mainstream media, but Texas Sen. John Cornyn has been on it all week: Russian submarine activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
After receiving no satisfaction to earlier comments to the media, Cornyn wrote a letter today to Admiral Jonathan Greenert, the Pentagons Chief of Naval Operations, demanding answers.
The submarine patrol, taken together with the air incursions, seems to represent a more aggressive and destabilizing Russian military stance that could pose risks to our national security, Cornyn wrote. This is especially troubling given the drastic defense cuts sought by President Obama, which include reductions in funding for antisubmarine defense systems.
The story has received relatively little attention since appearing in the conservative media outlet The Washington Free Beacon. According to the original report by longtime military correspondent Bill Gertz:
Red October redux? John Cornyn demands answers from Pentagon on Russian sub in Gulf of Mexico (UPDATED) - Texas on the Potomac
13. Benghazi, Libya...our installation is attacked, the administration follows it in real time....
"It wasn't a copycat. It was a sustained attack that lasted for six or eight hours,..."
Althouse: After the Benghazi attack: "We're going through a mission accomplished moment."
...and there is no rapid-response team sent????
No air cover????
Some lawmakers are asking why U.S. military help from outside Libya didn't arrive as terrorists battered more than 30 Americans over the course of more than seven hours. The assault was launched by an armed mob of dozens that torched buildings and used rocket propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 rifles. CBS News has been told that, hours after the attack began, an unmanned Predator drone was sent over the U.S. mission in Benghazi, and that the drone and other reconnaissance aircraft apparently observed the final hours of the protracted battle.
Could U.S. military have helped during Libya attack? - CBS News
14. "President Obamas foreign policy is based on fantasy
FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which the tide of war is receding and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces. Other leaders, in this vision, would behave rationally and in the interest of their people and the world. Invasions, brute force, great-power games and shifting alliances these were things of the past. Secretary of State John F. Kerry displayed this mindset on ABCs This Week Sunday when he said, of Russias invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Its a 19th century act in the 21st century.
Since the Syrian dictator crossed Mr. Obamas red line with a chemical weapons attack that killed 1,400 civilians, the dictators military and diplomatic position has steadily strengthened.
There were similar retrenchments after the Korea and Vietnam wars and when the Soviet Union crumbled. But the United States discovered each time that the world became a more dangerous place without its leadership and that disorder in the world could threaten U.S. prosperity. Each period of retrenchment was followed by more active (though not always wiser) policy. Today Mr. Obama has plenty of company in his impulse, within both parties and as reflected by public opinion. But hes also in part responsible for the national mood: If a president doesnt make the case for global engagement, no one else effectively can.
Military strength, trustworthiness as an ally, staying power in difficult corners of the world such as Afghanistan these still matter, much as we might wish they did not. While the United States has been retrenching, the tide of democracy in the world, which once seemed inexorable, has been receding. In the long run, thats harmful to U.S. national security, too.
President Obama?s foreign policy is based on fantasy - The Washington Post
15. When Barack Obama took office, he pledged a new overture to the worlds emerging powers. Today each of the Brics Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa is at loggerheads with America, or worse. Last month four of the five abstained in a UN vote condemning the fifths annexation of Crimea. Next month India is likely to elect as its new leader Narendra Modi, who says he has no interest in visiting America other than to attend the UN in New York. As the worlds largest democracy, and Americas most natural ally among the emerging powers, Indias is a troubling weathervane. How on earth did Mr Obama lose the Brics?
How Obama lost friends and influence in the Brics - FT.com
