The Barack Doctrine: Status Quo, Status Quo Ante

Teddy Roosevelt walked softly and carried a big stick. James Monroe declared that the United States would not interfere in Europe, and warned Europe to stay out of the Americas. Harry Truman believed in containment, Jimmy Carter in human rights, and Ronald Reagan in engagement. . . trust but verify.

Is there a Barack Doctrine? Indeed there is. President Obama has shown repeatedly that he desires to vote “present” in foreign policy, and that his administration will toss aside all of their principles to maintain the status quo (as things are) or, where the status quo has been shattered, to return to the status quo ante (as things were).

Status Quo

During the campaign, candidate Obama spoke of engaging the world in dialog. He promised to improve America’s image and to defend human rights. He criticized modern soft-dictators like Chavez, who were elected as democrats, but ruled as tyrants, and he talked of breaking with the past. But that was then.
Observe that in each of the following instances, Obama subsumed his principles to maintain the status quo. . .

• China. . .

The first test for the young administration was China. Candidate Obama criticized China for its human rights, for their failure to fight intellectual piracy, for their suppression of Tibet, for the safety of their products, and for their currency manipulation. He swore he would hold their feet to the fire and might even ban some of their products.

But President Obama wants China to buy his debt. So his first official act was to send Hillary Clinton to bow and scrape and to assure China that he would never pressure them. When this was not enough, and China threatened to stop buying U.S. debt, Obama sent Tim Geithner to plead for the status quo.

• Russia. . .

Next came the Russians, who had invaded Georgia, cut off natural gas supplies to Europe, worked tirelessly to help Iran develop nuclear power, and threatened several NATO allies. Candidate Obama boldly proclaimed that he wouldn’t “shy away from pushing democracy, transparency, and accountability.”

His efforts to date? Obama sent Hillary Clinton with a gag gift (a reset button) and otherwise refrained from any actions that might upset Russia. End result: status quo maintained.

• India. . .

George Bush was roundly criticized by the left for allowing India to make a mockery of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Under that Treaty, all signatories must withhold civilian nuclear technology from any regime that has not ratified the Treaty. Even though India refuses to sign the Treaty, Bush negotiated a deal with India, whereby the United States would transfer nuclear technology to India. Obama’s party called this despicable and said that it sends the wrong message to countries like Iran and North Korean.

President Obama claims that non-proliferation is a primary focus of his foreign policy. Yet, not only did he publicly state that he is “fully committed” to implementing the Bush deal, but Hillary Clinton even voiced the hope that this arrangement (which violates the Treaty) can “serve as the foundation of a productive partnership on non-proliferation.” Again, the status quo is preserved.

• North Korea . . .

Candidate Obama promised “sustained, direct and aggressive diplomacy” to handle North Korea. He called for the strengthening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the imposition of “strong international sanctions” against North Korea for any violation of United Nations resolutions. He even stated his belief that the United States needs a missile defense system to counter North Korea’s threat.

President Obama has warned that North Korea is a “grave threat” and said that he would “not tolerate” North Korea’s strategy of extracting rewards with belligerent behavior.

But beyond that, no amount of nuclear tests, missile tests, threats to rain a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” on South Korea, or seized journalists has resulted in anything approaching a “strong sanction” or “sustained, direct, or aggressive diplomacy.” Again, Obama avoids disturbing the status quo.

• The Arab World. . .

The Arab world is a mess. The “good” countries are run by tyrannical dictators. The poorly run ones are run by the theologically insane. They support terrorism world wide and hate America for things we have never done and never will, and they use their hatred of America and claims of victimhood at our hands as a crutch to justify their own failures.

Candidate Obama told us that he was uniquely suited to travel to the Arab world and change this. Unlike honkus maximus, he could gain Arab sympathy. He was a fresh start, and that would let him set the record straight -- America has no interest in a crusade, he would proclaim, and all would be good.

President Obama traveled to Egypt, birth place of the Muslim Brotherhood (an old guard member of the terrorism fraternity) and home to a repressive Egyptian regime, and from his mouth did come the words: (and I paraphrase) “it’s not you. . . it’s us. We need to change. Give us time. Don’t do anything until I get back to you.” And thus, the status quo was preserved.

• Guantanamo Bay. . .

Candidate Obama promised to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and restore habeas corpus for the detainees before his rear hit the Oval chair. When President Obama learned this would cause problems, he opted for the status quo.

• Iraq. . .

Candidate Obama promised to “responsibly end the war in Iraq,” and to remove all U.S. troops by the end of 2009. President Obama plans to remove only “combat” troops, by the end of August 2010, though this will leave “30,000-50,000 troops in advisory roles.” Once again, he opts for the status quo.

Status Quo Ante

But what will Obama do when the genie has left the bottle and shattered the status quo? In that event, Obama’s policy becomes one of status quo ante -- the quest for the peace before. Thus, if you want to know which party Obama will support in any conflict, do not look for his stated principles, look to see who caused the issue to become of international interest, he will oppose that party.

• Iran. . .

Candidate Obama promised “tough, direct presidential diplomacy” with the Iranian regime to solve the misunderstanding that had vexed Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. He extended his open hand, and Iran spit in it. Obama quietly slunk off.
Then in 2009, after a rigged election, the people of Iran flooded their streets in a budding revolution akin to those that crushed the tyrants of Eastern Europe. Obama, the human rights candidate, the man who thought he could solve everything with words, found himself strangely silent. Indeed, he barely raised a peep as the regime shielded the eyes of the outside world and crushed their own people.

Why did he not even speak out for the protection of these people? After all of his talk about human rights and supporting democracy around the world, would it not seem to make sense that he would support the people of Iran? I would, except that it was the people attempting to overturn their government that were disturbing the status quo. It was their actions, not the rigged elections, which brought this issue to a head as an international issues, rather than just an intranational issue. Thus, he remained silent in the hopes of restoring the comfort of the status quo ante.

• Honduras. . .

The final piece of the puzzle came last week. Obama sided with the repressive regimes in China and Iran, so giving a quick nod to a “military junta” should be no big deal. But it was. Why? What was different? This “junta” was disrupting the status quo.

By arresting Zelaya and throwing him out of the country, the Honduras Supreme Court and military elevated their dispute with President Zelaya from an intranational issue to an international issue. It did not matter that Zelaya acted illegally or that he provoked the incident, or that the Honduran government acted in accordance with the rule of law. . . they forced the issue to rise to the level where Obama had to become involved. Thus, he chose the side of Zelaya, in the hopes of restoring the status quo ante, so that he could return to ignoring the country.

Whether you call Obama’s policy supporting the current world order or the policy of hope for no change, it is clearly guided by a strong desire to avoid anything that disrupts the status quo. And as this becomes more and more obvious, look for foreign governments to learn that they can exploit his desire to vote present to extract amazing concessions.

Indeed, this week, India and Russia both proposed ending the dollar’s status as a reserve currency. Neither country is likely serious because the effects would be disastrous on the vast reserves of dollars they hold, but it will get concessions from Obama.

Russia is demanding the scrapping of the Eastern Europe missile defense system and the abandonment by NATO of Georgia and the Ukraine. North Korea wants money. And everybody else is getting their wish lists ready. [+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Bermuda Love Triangle Gone Wrong

President Obama is man of few skills. But there is one skill in which he truly excels. . . angering the British. He’s done it again.

As you may recall, there are currently 17 Uyghurs residing at Guantanamo Bay. . . that is to say, there were.

Earlier this month, the United States obtained the agreement of the president of Palau, Mr. Johnson Toibiong, to take thirteen of these gentlemen off our hands for the minor sum of $200 million. Why he could not take all seventeen is not known. Perhaps the Palau Hilton was full? Perhaps Palauan President Toibiong didn’t like the fruit basket? We don’t know. But we do know that this left Team Obama with the little problem of four unwanted Uyghurs.

The brain trust charged with handling this delicate situation are named Greg Craig and Daniel Fried, two senior level Obama advisors who have been assigned the task of dispersing the inmate at Gitmo, giving new meaning to the barman’s call: “You don’t have to go home. . . but you can’t stay here.”

So what did Team Obama come up with? No, they didn’t just drive them to a rest stop in Cuba and shove them out the door. They flew them to Bermuda, and set them free.

Now, don’t think for a moment that they did this without the permission of Bermuda’s Premier, Ewart Brown. No, they weren’t that crass.

And don’t worry, there was no dirty deal. Bermuda was simply “playing the Good Samaritan in recognition of its 400 year friendship with the United States,” said Brown. The fact that 78% of the island’s income comes from financial services, an industry now owned by Mr. Obama, or that 90% of Bermuda’s tourist industry is dependent on the United States had nothing to with this, or so we are assured.

Nevertheless, Fried and Craig got them quite a good deal. Premier Brown not only agreed to let them settle in Bermuda, but he agreed to let these Uyghurs become naturalized citizens -- a right not even held by many persons born on the island itself.

So why would this upset Britain? Well, there seems to be some vague relationship between Britain and Bermuda. Indeed, Bermuda is considered a British Overseas Territory. Thus, Bermuda’s head of state is the Queen of England, and all matters related to foreign policy and/or security, which includes immigration, fall under the purview of the Governor of Bermuda, Sir Richard Gozney.

And here’s the kicker. . . Team Obama never told anyone in the British Government they were doing this until it happened. Read that again.

This is a major diplomatic slight, equivalent to Britain negotiating a secret treaty with the Mayor of Kansas City. Naturally, the British are quite upset. Whitehall officials are privately accusing Team Obama of treating Britain “with barely disguised contempt.” Said one senior British official:

"The Americans were fully aware of the foreign-policy understanding we have with Bermuda and they deliberately chose to ignore it. This is not the kind of behavior one expects from an ally."

Moreover, the British now face a very real problem. Remember that promise of citizenship? That will give these Uyghurs the right to travel to the UK and to apply for British citizenship. Thus, while they can still be denied entry to the United States, they cannot be denied entry to the United Kingdom. Take that you dirty Brits.

But wait, there’s more. After the British became upset, Team Obama lied about informing the British. Indeed, Team Obama trotted out zombified-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to claim that she discussed the transfer with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband in what she described as “an uneasy conversation.” Really? “Guess what we’re about to do to you!” I wonder how that conversation ended?

Britain, however, denies this, as does Bermuda Governor Gozney who stated, “We were only told this morning.”

United States official, speaking off the record, seemed to concede this point with their defense: “We did talk to them before the Uyghurs got on the plane.” As does Premier Ewart Brown, who himself described the talks that led to this as “private and somewhat restricted.”

And like that, the love between America and Britain vanishes without a trace. . . another victim of the Bermuda Love Triangle.
[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...