So Much for Restoring our International Reputation

Presidential Policy: Does It Make the Grade?, James Carafano, PhD

For a president who came into office claiming that he wanted to listen to what the world had to say, Mr. Obama has developed a fairly solid tin ear.

Last week, the White House pretty much tried to shut out the rest of the globe altogether.
irst, the president cancelled a highly anticipated trip to Asia. “After hearing ad nausea from the Administration that America is back in Asia after a presumed absence under eight years of the Bush Administration, now comes the caveat. President Obama will cancel his upcoming trip to Guam, Indonesia and Australia – in the interest of salvaging his near singular preoccupation – health care reform,” reports Heritage Foundation Asian scholar Walter Lohman. “That didn’t take long. (Now, the trip is officially “postponed.” But this being the third time it has happened, the hosts certainly shouldn’t count on rescheduling. If it were a dinner invitation, such a guest would certainly be struck from future lists.)”

Second, the administration still holds out it can “do business” with Russia, even as the Russians are keeping to their demands for negotiating a strategic arms reduction treaty. Meanwhile, Moscow continues to hold out a promise of a deal on one hand and slaps the White House with the other. Although earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed an agreement would be reached before the end of the month, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin greeted State Department Secretary Clinton with an announcement that the nuclear plant Russia is helping Iran build in Bushehr will begin operations this summer. In short, the Russians keep playing the U.S. for a fool, but the White House continues not to notice.

Finally, the president ended week with the release of video address to the Iranian people on Saturday in which he renewed his offer of dialogue with the Iranian government despite pretty solid evidence that Tehran has no interest in negotiating away its nuclear weapons program.

It is just incredible to believe that the White House thinks it can “do business” with an Iranian government that is beyond the pale. “As censorship in Iran continues to increase, more journalists are being detained, tortured, and sentenced to long prison terms and in some potential cases, execution,” reports Heritage public diplomacy expert Helle Dale, “ According to a report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Iran has hit a new high in the detainment of journalists. There are now 52 journalists in jail, making Iran the top jailer of press in the world. China comes in second place with imprisoning 24 journalists and Cuba follows closely behind with 22.” Yet, rather than hammer Tehran for its horrifying human rights record, the White House still says “let’s talk.”

After starting the week by ignoring and insulting allies and ending it by ignoring the insults of America’s enemies, the White House has demonstrated pretty clearly that it is much more interested in promoting its political agenda at home than dealing with nation’s interests abroad.

This week Mr. President that earns you an “F” for failing the American people.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affaires, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation.