President Obama’s recent speech on Afghanistan — which essentially amounted to splitting the difference by giving U.S. commanders part of what they wanted — reflected the same sort of moral mushiness. Wasn’t this the same leader who during the 2008 presidential campaign proclaimed that Afghanistan represented “central front” in the war on terror?
Obama’s softer touch has yielded nothing in the way of increased allied unity. Indeed, our Western allies seem as divided as ever over how to deal with Iran, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. Our Western European allies, in contrast with allies such as Poland, appear to have little interest in making a sustained commitment to Afghanistan. For our adversaries, Obama’s softer touch has simply served to encourage their worst instincts. Obama shows a profound naïveté when it comes to understanding the problems in this world. He needs to understand, before it’s too late, that soft words and sweet reason will accomplish nothing with leaders who harbor destructive attitudes.
President Obama invoked the name of President Kennedy during his Nobel speech. According to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, JFK’s favorite quote was from Dante’s “Inferno.” “The hottest places in hell,” it reads, “are reserved for those who in a time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality.” Moral neutrality is never good foreign policy — whether during the height of the Cold War or today.
– Former congressman Bob McEwen is the chairman of Renewing American Leadership. Rick Tyler is the organization’s founding director.
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