Taking a break from the dramas of Trump, we will put in the final installment of evaluation of Obama's presidency. We will talk about foreign policies. I think the worst mistake for Obama occurred with saying that he is drawing the line in the sand if Assad uses chemical weapons. Assad crossed that line and Obama did not do anything. You should only draw the line if you know that you can act if that line is crossed. There was and is no good options in Syria. So one should never promise big things if one can't deliver. The second mistake was underestimating ISIS. ISIS maybe a jv team to him but they are still dangerous and a big headache. So I think Obama could have done better against these terrorists.
But of course Obama was not the founding father of ISIS as Trump pointed out. ISIS happened because Bush invaded Iraq. I think thev history of U.S. foreign policies are poor. We supported dictators in Vietnam and Iraq and went to war in those countries for no good reason. We supported the Shah of Iran and then allowed Hussein to use chemical weapons against Iran. So if I am to grade Obama on his own merits, he would get a B- but if we grade on a curve with other presidents, I give him a B+.
The reason for the relatively high grades if that I agree with him on the Iran deal, opening up Cuba, staying out of ground wars in the middle east. He also tried to pivot toward Asia which I think in the long run will be more important than the middle east and terrorists. I also agree with not fighting the Russians over Ukraine. But interesting enough some of my conservative friends demanded that Obama take action against the Russians over Crimea (never said what action should be taken). Now we know that Trump was going to lift sanctions. Really tough actions! And anyone who doesn't get along with Netanyahu is good in my book.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
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Well, I'll give him a B-. I think it's good that he didn't get us into any wars, but I think he needed to re-evaluate pulling out of the countries, because it ended up destabilizing the region. I understand the reasons he did it and I don't fault him for wanting to pull out, but it was a tough situation to be put in by the previous administration. Pulling out sort of backfired on him and made the country look weak.
ReplyDeleteThere were a few instances where other countries tried to provoke our ships and even though I admire his non response, I may have wanted him to give a go ahead to shoot someone's planes down so that it looks like that we will not be bullied.
I also think that he didn't do a good enough job of getting people to understand that ISIS is not a physical nation that we can just go into and fight. I also don't know if you meant that it's a JV group or if you meant that Obama thought it was. Because I consider it the up and comer with deep pockets. Funny thing is, it's overshadowed other groups that we should be watching like Al Qaeda.
As far as Ukraine goes, I don't know how much he could have done there. If anything, the UN dropped the ball there. I don't think we should have sent troops there unless it was a UN sanctioned operation. I do think that something had to be done because all Putin do was be the bully and take what he wanted with hardly any opposition.
Speaking of bullies, I agree with you on Netanyahu. It's unfortunate that his predecessor became ill because there seemed to be some stability (if you can call it that) starting to happen. Now, Israel is one of biggest allies and we need to show that we support it, but we also need to continue the peace process. Both sides there share a lot of the blame, but a stable Israel and Palestine region is critical.
By the way, I was watching clips of some Trump interviews he did a while ago where he claimed to have a relationship with Russia and was given gifts by Putin. So either he lied then or is lying now. I don't know how you can go around telling alternative facts and not realize you've been recorded saying things in the past. To me, that's a dangerous personality trait. I also don't like that he's been going to Florida the last few weeks on taxpayer dollars. Same goes for his wife staying in New York.
-LBOAYM
The timeline for pulling out was established by Bush and Iraq. Obama could have stayed in Iraq over objection of the Iraqi government but then he would have broken his campaign promise of getting out. Then if casualties piled up, he would be blamed. There is no military solution in this region. Some great leaders would have to step up and pull together various Muslim factions and make peace with each other and Israel. American military power only could have delayed the rise of ISIS but could not have prevented it.
ReplyDeleteI felt like we should flex our power sometimes also. But if we are the policeman of the world, which may be a bad idea anyway, then we have to have restrain. If we expect the cops to have restrain when provoked in the streets, how can we not expect Obama to show restrain?
I agree that Obama did a poor job in communication about ISIS. I think he said that just because a jv player wears an uniform, it doesn't make him Kobe Bryan. So yes, he was careless about talking about the threat of ISIS. But he did a lot with the drone strikes to kill terrorist leaders. But the head of the snake always grows back in this case.
Well, UN cannot solve Ukraine because the Russians has veto power. To me, Ukraine is not worth fighting over with Russia. The two countries have a history together. The Crimea belonged to Russia before. This is something they have to work it out. Ukraine needed Russian energy and economic support. The way I look at it, Russia gets to flex its muscle here but they will end up regretting it.
Before the Iran deal, Netanyahu said the Iranians will have a bomb in a year. So Obama got the deal and now more than a year later, Iran has complied and they don't have a bomb and is further from it than before. But Netanyahu still said it is a bad deal. Trump said that he will get rid of it day one. Neither would directly address getting rid of it today. The alternative to the deal, if we were to believe Netanyahu's timeline, would be to bomb Iran. Netanyahu wanted Obama to do it. What kind of ally is that? Trump will embolden the far right in Israel and make peace even more difficult to achieve.
I was trying to avoid writing about Trump for a week but failed. His dealings with the Russians are just one of the inconsistencies that is baffling. I am sure even with recordings he will deny it and blame the media.