I'm sorry - Obama's foreign policy creeps me out [cached]

by Jerome a Paris
Thu May 31, 2007 at 07:07:54 AM PDT

Just to be very clear: I have no preference whatsoever between the various Democratic candidates. So this is not a hit job to help another contender. Just my reactions - as a foreigner - to his latest big article on the topic of foreign policy. If anything, this is anti-American rather than anti-Obama. See my comments below on Romney's parallel article.

• Rising to a New Generation of Global Challenges by Mitt Romney | Foreign Affairs |

Barack Obama has written a new, long article on what his foreign policy would look like [Renewing American Leadership By Barack Obama, publication Foreign Affairs - July/August 2007], and it only reinforces the worries I expressed in an earlier diary Neocons love Obama - Apr 30, 2007.

Let's cut to the chase: Barack Obama sees the world as a dangerous, scary place which requires a bigger and bad ass military than now, "aggressive diplomacy" and more American "leadership."

The world is an evil, evil, bad place

He only considers the world via the lens of threats and dangers. Foreign policy is not about sharing a common planet with others, to trade, organise life, coordinate activities and be in peace - or simply keeping communications open - it's only about threats and dangers. Foreigners are, at best, a nuisance, and otherwise a danger.

This century's threats are at least as dangerous as and in some ways more complex than those we have confronted in the past. They come from weapons that can kill on a mass scale and from global terrorists who respond to alienation or perceived injustice with murderous nihilism. They come from rogue states allied to terrorists and from rising powers that could challenge both America and the international foundation of liberal democracy. They come from weak states that cannot control their territory or provide for their people. And they come from a warming planet that will spur new diseases, spawn more devastating natural disasters, and catalyze deadly conflicts.

Even the development of previously poor countries is seen as a threat ("challenging both America and the international foundation of liberal democracy")

The Middle East - especially nasty, evil Iran - is a threat:

...we contend with growing threats in the region -- a strengthened Iran, a chaotic Iraq, the resurgence of al Qaeda, the reinvigoration of Hamas and Hezbollah...

...dealing with long-standing adversaries such as Iran and Syria...

... Iran's nuclear program, sponsorship of terrorism, and regional aggression ...

Nuclear proliferation is a threat. Terrorism is a threat.

...Terrorists need not build a nuclear weapon from scratch; they need only steal or buy a weapon or the material to assemble one...

What a sad, scary world you Americans inhabit. Threatened by everybody. Hated by more. Killed by ... your president's decisions.

US With Both Feet in Syrian Quagmire | @BooMan by Oui - 27 June 2014 |

So Barack Obama in his second term with John Kerry as his Foreign Policy "diplomat" were subordinate to VP Joe Biden in a similar manner as George Bush let VP Dick Cheney ran the Oval Office on security matters and foreign expeditions and warfare.

Overview of my diaries …

Syrian revolution (Diaries, Diary)

1. Caliphate of the Levant - Part 2
posted by Oui on 12/23/2024 02:01:06 AM CET
0 comments

2. US Syrian Quagmire - A Second Life
posted by Oui on 12/03/2024 04:09:30 AM CET
14 comments

3. Belligerence In Syria and Beyond
posted by Oui on 07/18/2021 08:05:32 PM CET
18 comments

4. Russia, Iran Prevail - Syrian Rebellion Ends
posted by Oui on 07/14/2018 04:03:21 PM CET
2 comments

5. Free Syrian Army Defeated, US Entices Saudi Led Terror Group
posted by Oui on 12/16/2013 01:56:48 PM CET
6 comments

6. Beirut Bombing Iranian Embassy - The Hand of Saudi Prince Bandar?
posted by Oui on 11/19/2013 06:40:01 PM CET
7 comments

Posted @BooMan …

• Reagan’s White House Years – The Anniversary | 5 Feb. 2011 |
The Reagan Doctrine: Terrorism and Assassinations

Although the American people and Congress supported the Grenada invasion, Democrats led by House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill, questioned the wisdom and morality of U.S. involvement in El Salvador, and, especially, Nicaragua. In 1982, Congress passed the Boland Amendment, prohibiting direct Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) efforts to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. The amendment, however, imposed no penalties for violation, which encouraged the administration to ignore it.

• Egypt Unrest in Sinaï on Israel’s Doorstep | 12 Aug. 2012 |
MB reported in early stage suspicion of a Mossad operation. Reminds me of the Reagan years and one of many false flag operations in the Middle-East.
• Kerry On a Mission to Convince Friends of a Political Solution in Syria | 26 July 2013 |

The leader of Syria’s Western-backed opposition group told U.S. Secretary John Kerry that the United States must quickly supply rebels with promised weapons to prevent a military victory by President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Ahmad Al-Jarba, in a statement sent out while he was still meeting with Kerry at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, called the situation in Syria “desperate” and said the opposition urgently needs American action “to push the international community to demand a political transition.”

Aways the same damn playbook, war narrative and misleading the global community. The Salvador Option.

Assassination Season Is Open | Carnegie – 14 April 2010 |

State-sponsored assassination is on the rise worldwide. Aside from questions of moral justification and legality, political assassination also brings to the fore practical policy considerations, not least the law of unintended consequences.