Political & Elections

I would tend to say that W wanted BL early on but, he squantered an opportunity earily on, and then got bogged down in his two wars. 

Has Obama brought about world peace and the easing of hostilities in the Middle East?  No, clearly not.

Has he had any positives on foreign policy?   Yes, certainly.   Of course it depends on who you ask.

First, on national security, imo Obama gets as much credit for "he kept us safe" domestically as Bush did after 9/11.     Many would credit him for decimating the top leadership of Al-Qaeda and maintaining Patriot Act security measures to the detriment of his political standing with parts of his base.   

Afghanistan:  Colin Powell gave an interview to Fareed Zakaria and was asked to comment on Obama's foreign policy, and his answer was, "I think he's done reasonably well, very well, in fact."  Noting that he ended combat operations in Iraq as promised and that he is pursuing a steady strategy of slowly getting us out of Afghanistan.   Too slowly for some, of course, but Powell seemed to have a positive view of how Obama was handling the war in Afghanistan.   I'd rather we pull everybody out tomorrow and spend our money building our own infrastructure, but will defer to Powell on the sense of going slow. 

 Israel: 

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak: In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak responded to a question about the state of the current U.S.-Israeli relationship by saying, "I should tell you honestly that this administration under President Obama is doing, in regard to our security, more than anything that I can remember in the past." [CNN, The Situation Room, 7/31/12

Israeli President Shimon Peres : In an interview with Charlie Rose, Israeli President Shimon Peres stated that Obama is "a great president and a great friend of Israel," and that security cooperation between the United States and Israel is "the best we've ever had." In an interview on ABC's The View, Peres also stated: I think under President Obama we have the best relationship on the issue of security. Never was the security or the needs for the means of security better met than today under President Obama. This is a fact." 

Obama spoke of the "unshakeable commitment" of his government to Israel's security and announced a previously authorized $70 million in U.S. funding for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. "This is a program that has been critical in terms of providing security and safety for Israeli families," Obama said of the Iron Dome system. "It is a program that has been tested and has prevented missile strikes inside of Israel. And it is testimony of the leadership of folks sitting here that we are going to be able to lock in that funding to make sure that program continues and that we are standing by our friends In Israel when it comes to these kinds of attacks."

Where did I state any of the things you say I stated?   Please highlight them for me.

This president along with Mitt  and those presidents before him have bought into the notion that the US can control events in the Arab world and if given the opportunity such as the "Arab spring" that democracy will emerge.  Folks, it hasn't happened and it won't. 

How you read that as supporting a headline that Obama claims "hostilities will ease on the day I'm inaugerated"......I don't know.   I'm taking from that a message that if we can dialogue and work with other countries, ultimately that will make us safer.       That's it. 

But you know, I get that's it's an election and the hyper partisan on both sides are going to s-t-re-t-c-h next to nothing to make points that play with the base on the internet.

I just read a post on one of the hyper sites from "my side" that impied Romney was talking callously about the living conditions of Chinese factory workers and how Americans should be afraid, very afraid as though those conditions are what they should expect ...and I listened to it and I didn't get that at all.  I'm not sure what the point was exactly since it was one of those murky recordings and all he's doing is basically talking about how different working conditions are in China.     S-t-r-e-t-c-h, like I said.

Yes, I listened to it.

He doesn't say or even imply that muslim hostility toward the U.S. would automatically ease once he's president.  Period.  Given our history of involvement in the middle east, no one would make such a simplistic claim and he doesn't.

He also doesn't say or even imply that he could repair singlehandedly anti-U.S. animosity that has existed for decades through multiple administrations.  All he says is that from day one of his inaugeration the world would be able to perceive the U.S. differently because he would be the first president with a background of having lived in a muslim country.  "I'll reach out and I'll listen" aren't campaign promises.    He's just answering an interviewer's question about what distinguishes him from the other candidate irt improving America's image in the world.  

  Typical distorted Breitbart "journalism" that slaps an inflammatory headline on a story, with the certainty that it will be passed around the internet by people who go no further than the dishonest headline before jumping on the bandwagon.

Of course, Obama says nothing of the kind in that interview.