The Obama Administration Is Leaving America's Foreign Policy In Shambles

Last time I checked this was still America, but if I'm being honest, that was a while ago...The Onion

We can point to a large number of foreign policy failures by this administration (and I will shortly) but Obama's failure to send a high-level representative to Paris leads the list and perhaps the most disturbing.

As I've written earlier this week, this was one of the few moments in geopolitical history when symbolism and substance actually merged. And by Obama's failure to have the United States of America absent from such an important event is not only disastrous for his administration but one can argue for the nation as well.

That was the "icing on the cake" in my opinion. Let's take a closer look at the cake.

• Leading up to the 2012 Presidential Election, the administration proclaimed over and over again that al-Qaeda was on the run. At campaign rallies, Joe Biden repeated endlessly, "Bin Laden is dead. GM is alive." To some degree, Obama and Biden were right. Al-Qaeda was on the run---running roughshod all over the globe.
• The Obama administration backed the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The administration and his enablers in the media declared an "Arab Spring." We now know that was a myth, a fabrication, a failure.
• Add Syria to the big foreign policy fail. Yes, Obama drew a "red line," but then he erased it.
• Iran keeps moving ahead with its own uranium enrichment capabilities as is N. Korea. To be fair, the Carter and Clinton administrations fared no better with both of these threats.
• We watched as Obama's geopolitical weakness invited thugs like Putin to rattle their sabres in Crimea and elsewhere. Recall Hillary Clinton's attempt to "reset" our relationship with Russia. Another failure.
• It was just last October when Pres. Obama himself admitted the U.S. did not have a strategy to deal with the rise of ISIS. We've seen the outcome of that failure over and over again leading to the beheading of Western journalists and the spread of ISIS throughout Iraq and Syria.
• We've watched as a long relationship with one of our staunchest allies---Israel--be shredded to pieces in the last six years. 
• John F. Kerry's numerous global road trips have generally ended in failure. Last July, even the left-of-center NY Daily News reported Kerry was the only Secretary of State to fail in getting combatants on either side of the Palestinian/Israeli to agree to a ceasefire n more than 20 years. He's the same U.S. representative to demean American exceptionalism when he admitted he gets a "little uptight when I hear politicians say how exceptional we are." But then again, this is the same guy who demeaned an entire generation of Vietnam Veterans.

And while there have been countless other examples of this administration's foreign policy failures, one fact is becoming increasingly conspicuous: our nation's foreign policy is in shambles. 

America is not only facing an enemy of homicidal maniacs but the challenges in dealing with Russia, China, N. Korea, the Middle East and cyber-terrorism will continue. To borrow a phrase from the U.S. Navy,  we have an administration that does not understand that America must not only to be a global force for good---it needs to be a bad ass global force for good. Right now, America looks weak especially to our enemies.

If any event showed how "leading from behind" can damage the reputation of a great nation such as ours, it was our absence in Paris last week. The damage caused by that absence could last decades unless we get strong leadership in Washington.

The Progressive Big Lie (Among Many): It Has Nothing To Do With Islam

Based on a lie. Media's eager to stroke mob violence in Ferguson,  but abject cowards over a cartoon...John Nolte Tweet

• With the exception of a few in leadership and the media, how many times have we heard this big lie when it comes to Islamist terrorism: It has nothing to do with Islam. Even on the face of it, it's absurd. The enemy keeps proclaiming it has everything to do with Islam. For example, ISIS stands for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Allahu Akbar, an Islamic phrase meaning "God is the greatest" is often voiced by Islamist during their terror attacks. We heard this phrase shouted out for all to hear at Ft. Hood and Paris. Those are just two examples of many.
• Yet, even our own administration purposely fails to admit the obvious. The consequences of this denial have been clear: The Islamist know it, and it emboldens them to carry out more attacks. They realize not only is their enemy spineless but it doesn't even have the guts to define who the enemy really is.  How ludicrous, stupid and illogical would it have been for the Allies during WWII to not have referred to the enemy as Nazis?
• We've been so delusional in our approach to these Islamist threats and actions, even Michelle Obama and countless others actually thought a Twitter hashtag---#BringBackOurGirls---would have Boko Haram return the 200 or more girls it kidnapped. The fact is Boko Haram continued their rampage through Nigeria and never returned any of the girls (some escaped on their own). Boko Haram has even continued slaughtering thousands since that absurd hashtag was posted.
• Until Europe and the U.S. leadership and media come to terms with describing exactly who are enemy is---an enemy at war with Western civilization---the delusion and political correctness will continue to leave dead innocents in its wake.
• And our enemy will go on doing what they've been doing for decades in addition to declaring: "Hashtags? We don't care about your hashtags. We're not scared of your stinking hashtags." That's why a .50 caliber from a Barrett M82 would be more effective as many in our military already know. 

It Wasn't That Obama Was AWOL In Paris---The United States Was AWOL

Pres. Obama hosted the San Antonio Spurs championship basketball team at the White House. Rest assured, that's a rally he would never miss. WH Press Secretary

• In my piece yesterday, I had to admit I had mixed feelings about the Paris marches. This was largely due to many of the world leaders who took part in the marches. Some of them restrict free speech in their own countries. In addition, many are cowards when it comes to admitting who the real enemy is---Islamist homicidal maniacs. For example, for countries like France, they now are living with the outcome of stressing diversity and multiculturalism over its own nation state.
• Nevertheless, one can argue it was one of the few times in geopolitical history when symbolism actually merged with some degree of substance. Historically, symbolism trumps substance in politics (Bill Clinton comes immediately to mind), but that wasn't the case in Paris.
• Having said that, Pres. Obama and his administration have been taking a lot of heat for not attending the Paris march. And rightly so. It was a stunning and conspicuous absence by the leader of the Free World. Even if Obama was busy (he wasn't according to the WH calendar) or security was an issue (which could have been handled--after all, Bibi Netanyahu was one leading the march), Obama should have sent a high-profile administrator to the march. In fact, the administration admitted that themselves yesterday. They said they blew it. 
• By not attending the march, they also lost several significant opportunities. For example, it was an opportunity for the United States to project its strength to the world and to the Islamist. That alone would have been a powerful message considering the damage done by this administration to our reputation in foreign policy. 
• It would also have been an opportunity for the United States to mingle with the 40 or more world leaders and to show the world and the enemy that our democracies are worth defending.
• Again, this would have clearly merged symbolism and substance. And while this particular march may not result in "unity" in confronting the enemy, the perception alone could have been worth it. After all, our own civil rights marches transformed our nation for the better. Who knows what the outcome of these marches will be?
• Whether it was arrogance on the part of the Obama administration or it's failure to recognize the significance and importance of standing firm with our allies against the Islamist onslaught, the administration blew it---again.

Note: during the same period, Islamist murdered 17 people in France, it was reported Boko Haram murdered at least 2000 people. Yet---no marches.

Political Correctness + Appeasement Invites Terrorists To Hold Us Hostage

Here's my free speech summit statement: "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke." David Burge

• I have some mixed feeling about the marches that have taken place in France and Europe in response to the most recent Islamist attacks. I'm trying to reconcile several dilemmas and some outright hypocrisy.
• In one sense, I think it's good watching millions of ordinary citizens standing strong against the Islamist terrorist attacks. Quite frankly, it's about time. On the other hand, these attacks should not have come as a surprise considering the warped political correctness and appeasement prevalent in most Western societies today---including our own. 
• For example, if Europe was really serious about taking on Islamist, why do "no-go zones" still exist? What does it say about a society, a country, that directs its security forces and police not to enter Muslim "no-go zones?" The answer, in my opinion, is obvious. It comes down to cowardly appeasement and political correctness. And when a society does that, when it behavior lacks courage and when its leadership is gutless, the consequences are what we witnessed last week in Paris.
• In other words, free societies cannot allow liberty and freedom to be held hostage by Islamist homicidal manics. All too long, all too often, in the name of tolerance and multiculturalism, we've allowed this very thing to take hold in many democratic societies.
• I have a lot of respect for the French (one can argue, the U.S. would not exist today if it weren't for the French being our allies during the Revolutionary War. In 1778, the French recognized the U.S. as a sovereign nation). But their hard-Left, Socialist policies throughout the past decades invited terrorism and its warped ideology to take hold in their society. That same mind-set also invited disturbing and disconcerting antisemitism. For example, just last week, the editor of Britain's Jewish Chronicle reported every single Jew he knows has already left Paris. The most recent terrorist attacks will undoubtedly force more Jews to flee France in the coming months and years.
• Marches and protests against Islamic Fascism is good. It's welcoming. But those same millions of people---including their leadership---have to make a vow now. They have to vow to fight against the people they've finally recognized as being evil.
• Perhaps Jonah Goldberg wrote it best last week: "...we are in a moment where moderation, tolerance and respect are too easily confused with appeasement. And that is why the jihadists are winning..."
• Make no mistake, when four Islamist can cause havoc across the European continent for several days or when only a dozen of them can take out our financial headquarters and almost our government on 9/11, we must recognize we're in a war against an evil ideology. It appears millions of citizens are finally waking up to this threat. The question still remains: Will our leadership?

PS: President Obama and his administration is taking some heat for not participating in the Paris marches this past weekend. It should surprise no one since there were no fundraisers scheduled in France that weekend.