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Obama has Destroyed American Credibility: Can We Recover?
In just eight years, our nation’s credibility has been damaged beyond my wildest imagination. President Obama made our punishment his mission, and he has been successful. Now that the damage has been done, what will the next president do? In Saturday’s Wall Street Journal (still behind a firewall at this writing), Dick and Liz Cheney describe the havoc that Obama has wreaked in our global relationships. Below — and in no particular order — I’ve some speculations regarding what the next president, no matter who is in office, can take to rectify the situation:
- Re-establish active relationships with our European allies, particularly the United Kingdom, to let them know the ways (beyond words) that we are prepared to step forward.
- Throw out the Iran agreement. Let the Iranians know that we are no longer going to tolerate their lies and that any further payments to them are off the table. Also let them know we will respond to threats to our navy in international waters.
- Clarify who are our allies in the Middle East, and meet with them to reach agreements on how we are willing to support them in fighting terrorism.
- Mend our relationship with Israel, and let Hamas and Palestinian Authority know that we will no longer tolerate their lack of cooperation and their ongoing aggression in that part of the Middle East.
- Provide arms to Ukraine so that they can make a decent effort to protect themselves.
- Determine strategies for dealing with North Korea, Russia, and China, and hold to those decisions through our actions.
- Assess the military and determine funding that is needed and where it is needed; if necessary, “retire” those who have been known to manipulate information and mislead our citizens.
The list could go on, but those are some of the steps I see in front of us. Most of them will be difficult, but we must be internationally strategic and assertive to let the world know that the United States is “back in town” and willing to rejoin the community of international power and responsibility.
As Dick and Liz Cheny said:
As Americans calculate the costs of leadership, we must remember that the costs of failing to lead—or of inaction—are much higher. Imagine a world where Russia, Iran, China and North Korea set the rules; where militant Islam spreads its evil ideology unchallenged across the globe; where parts of Europe are once again enslaved by Russia, our NATO alliance impotent; and where China achieves military superiority over the U.S. and dominates Asia and beyond.
Finally, imagine a world where the terrorists and their leading state sponsor have nuclear weapons. Fifteen years after 9/11, we can say with certainty that this is the world that will be created by withdrawal and retreat—by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s policies—if we don’t reverse course.
What do you think the next president will need to do to rebuild our international effectiveness and credibility?
Published in Foreign Policy
P.S. Not that Obama inspires a ton of confidence in our no 5hIt trigger pullers. By the way, we do have an infinite supply of hard core grunts. My guess is that they are much fewer than you would care to imagine.
Those abroad and at home who don’t like us to be World Police should have to do without our first-responder duties for any natural disaster, anywhere. 99.9% of our actions abroad are beneficial. It might be instructive for the US to take its money and go home for a few months. Zika virus? Fight it yourselves. Big earthquake? Dig yourself out. Tsunami? Rebuild your own cities.
Oh, Susan, I totally agree with your ideas, but like most others around here I don’t hold out much hope for the next inhabitant of the Oval Office to do any of it.
It is little odd to think that an elected office holder with an eight year term can seriously impact the prestige of the United States outside his own orbit of influence. As an adult, Obama was a non-entity and a failure from the moment he matriculated at Occidental College. He and his odious wife played the race card of undeserved reward for everything it was worth with the standard result of nothing worth mentioning. Obama is held in contempt as he deserves not the United States.
We will roll through a few more cycles of these self aggrandizing non-entities and demagogues before the death of the republic and the rise of the empire. The United States will be hyper-aggressive and expansionist tyranny before 2030 run by cruel but efficient men after a bloody Civil War where many of these leaders who survive will find themselves unceremoniously ushered into the cold grasp of Thanatos .
Enjoy the ride.
It’s all well and good to come up with a laundry list of services we must provide for our competitors and protectorates, but the US government has a much bigger problems than that it is not doing enough nice things for foreigners.
It is essentially insolvent, unable to pay its bills without extensive borrowing that shades into money-printing. It is unable or unwilling to secure the national border, allowing an unknown but certainly not zero number of terrorists into the country. It is plainly run-through with spies, hackers, traitors, and fools- and astonishingly, this appears to trouble almost no one in the government or opposition. It plainly despises so large portion of its own population, treating us as a hostile aliens needing to be watched at all times, itching to send soldiers to bust down our doors and shoot us dead.
So forgive me if I think these swarming billions of foreigners can solve their own fracking problems for a change. This isn’t 1950, and the United States no longer is the only industrial nation on the planet. We need to take care of our own problems, and let foreigners take care of theirs.
Or not. But that’s their choice.
Well, maybe if it’s booties on the ground and there’s gluten-free organic s’mores, free WiFi and safe spaces not far from the campfire.
Love all that you say, I. This is especially true. It will take vision and clarity, rather than hopping from one crisis to another, and actually doing some economic work–how about a budget for starters?
Let’s not forget the bust of Winston Churchill he returned, too. Sigh.
I honestly don’t know how the decision was made for us to stay–did the South Koreans want us there to protect them? If not, what you say makes sense, Axe.
Double Like!
Music to my ears!
Thanks, Trinity. I usually try to be fair minded, I guess. And I have stopped reading posts on Trump and Hillary. I guess that answers your question!
It’s hard for me to argue with this point, C. My hope is that we at least start moving in the right direction. But I doubt a lot of it will get done.
When you have a government that treats the US military as the armed security guard force for globalism inc and treats the American people as interchangeable global labor units don’t be surprised when the proles aren’t interested in signing up to die for all that.
One of the fascinating little things I discovered from the Khizr Khan kerfluffle is that there have been only 15 Muslim KIA in the last 15 years of war. Khan’s son was alone was almost 7% of the Muslim dead. During this same time Americans from the South suffered thousands of deaths.
Yet the present regime treats Southerners like filthy, scummy dirt, while it agonizes that Muslims might get hurt feelings because people dislike their endless terror attacks. It reminds me of a saying about US foreign policy, which I once thought a joke- the US appeases its enemies and betrays its friends.
Eventually, the regime will have no friends left, foreign or domestic.
This scares me even more. They don’t realize that if things keep going in this direction, Frozen, eventually there will be no trough from which to feed. Security is the big issue here for me.
I meant to write that we do Not have an infinite supply of grunts.
Actually we are not that far apart, X. Rebuilding our credibility can serve our own needs and issues. I’m not that enamored with helping other with their problems right now, but I’d prefer not to be run over by powermongers (hear North Korea, China and Russia) because they think we’re ineffectual. Credibility matters in that case.
Actually that’s how I read it! Just filled in that “Not” myself. Thanks, Simon.
Same here.
Why the Ukraine position?
I’m not in the mood to triple down on the mistake where the EU/US heads of state toppled the Russian aligned government.
Did you learn anything from supporting rebels against Assad in Syria?
Yes, but I see precious little discussion about the ugly internal problems of the United States. Instead I read far too much shinola about how everything is awesome, unless you’re a meth-head who just needs to rent a U-haul.
It seems to me that the American political class has no idea what to do about our actual problems, so they just keep churning out nonsense. I have no faith at all that the usual suspects have any capability of fixing any of these problems. Instead, like Cheney, they return to the solutions of an earlier era and of an earlier set of problems. Not good enough, on any level.
We will not regain our credibility until we solve our problems at home, and stop our ineffectual meddling abroad. No one fears the wrath of the United States, for good reason. We are ineffectual.
Hence my support of Trump, who at least recognizes that we have new challenges and new problems, and attempts to offer new policies to deal with them.
I think the larger problem is that the chessboard is aware of the chess players. The interests of the country should dictate the ends to which the game is played, it seems more and more that the game exists for itself.
I believe that we should only provide arms to Ukraine. I think that helping them without sending bodies would be a good idea.
Why do you have that belief? It’s clear that you realize that this policy is toxic, so you won’t send bodies. Though you are willing to throw our credibility away in this half-hearted affair.
What is your standard of value?
The puppet government of Ukraine is currently conscripting a populace that voted against them to use those weapons (or use them to keep the conscripts in line). That populace is just as innocent as you and your family.
Why is it in your interest for them to be put in harms way?
Disclosure: My highest standard of value is voluntary exchanges and relationships.
YOU HATE THE GRUNTS!!!!
I thought of trying to write about how Obama has damaged our domestic environment, Xennady, but I decided I only wanted to write an OP, not a tome. Also, writing about domestic issues, which are extremely important, would only have created a Trump/NeverTrump discussion and I don’t participate in those. Sorry.
I guess I have been out of the loop. I thought the current government of Ukraine was led by an honorable man. I’ll have to do my homework.
I don’t know what this means.
The political establishment has its own attitude, which is likely to appreciate any effort that has kept either side safe. The man on the street, though, two or three generations removed from the conflict that saved them, might seethe with resentment against the foreigners just because they are there.
There is really nothing on your list with one possible exception that is about doing stuff for other countries. It’s all good stuff that needs to be done for the sake of strengthening the position of the US and the other good guys in the world.
Thanks, Axe.