Elizabeth Warren for President(?)

[YmirGF]

It's pretty much common knowledge that Obama wanted out of Iraq but was steered by military advisers not to so too quickly. OTOH, he doubled down on Afghanistan, which I felt and the time and feel now was a big mistake.

Let's face it, foreign policy is far from Obama's strongest suit.

Then again, I'm trying to figure out if he has a strong affinity for anything - beyond self-promotion. He is very good at that, I'll give him that.

 

[Revoltingest]

Let's face it, foreign policy is far from Obama's strongest suit.

Then again, I'm trying to figure out if he has a strong affinity for anything - beyond self-promotion. He is very good at that, I'll give him that.

I'll add that he successfully resisted calls for a preemptive attack on Iran. He's not all bad. (But don't tell him I said that. I have an image to maintain.)

 

[metis]

Let's face it, foreign policy is far from Obama's strongest suit.

Then again, I'm trying to figure out if he has a strong affinity for anything - beyond self-promotion. He is very good at that, I'll give him that.

You simply are not used to actually having a president that at least has an I.Q. into the double-digits.

 

[Revoltingest]

You simply are not used to actually having a president that at least has an I.Q. into the double-digits.

We should get one of those!
(I don't think he's ever had a president of any kind though, being a denizen of Canuckistan.)

 

[icehorse]

Let's face it, foreign policy is far from Obama's strongest suit.

Then again, I'm trying to figure out if he has a strong affinity for anything - beyond self-promotion. He is very good at that, I'll give him that.

Why do you say that?

 

[YmirGF]

Why do you say that?

Which comment are you addressing? Do you think that Obama has a good foreign policy record? Seriously?

 

[icehorse]

Which comment are you addressing? Do you think that Obama has a good foreign policy record? Seriously?

Well compared to whom? Certainly better than Bush's. What would you have had him do differently? My take is that - for example - we've got to stop staggering around in the ME, all half-cocked. I think restraint has been the best policy in terms of Syria and ISIS, again, for example.

 

[YmirGF]

Well compared to whom? Certainly better than Bush's. What would you have had him do differently? My take is that - for example - we've got to stop staggering around in the ME, all half-cocked. I think restraint has been the best policy in terms of Syria and ISIS, again, for example.

But is it really restraint or simply inability to make choices?

For example:

The Cairo speech, embarking on a new respect for the Muslim world, with the first two rows of the audience reserved for members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has since been outlawed (again) in Egypt. The crazy part of that speech was that the people in the audience knew it was all a crock and embellishing history. In short, they didn't buy into it.

The "reset" with Russia. No need to describe this one too much. A rather spectacular failure of policy.

Withdrawing from Iraq too early. Timetables are nice, but it does help if timetables coincide with reality on the ground. In the words used by Colin Powell, 'If you break it, you own it."

Dealing with Assad in Syria. This one is almost demented in the epic proportions of how badly it has been botched.

His handling of the Islamic State. Just epic stupidity.

OK, so he is easing tensions with the Castro regime on the island of Cuba. After decades, with a few smiles and promises, diplomatic relations are being restored with the very regime that has been a thorn in America's side for over 50 years. This is a huge win though - for the Castro regime, that is. America has finally seen the light of day. It's hard to make stuff like this up. Fidel and his bro must still be walking 6 inches off the ground at their good fortune.

The handling of Libya, under Gaddafi, which directly resulted in the catastrophe known as Benghazi... utter failure on steroids.

 

[Revoltingest]

Withdrawing from Iraq too early. Timetables are nice, but it does help if timetables coincide with reality on the ground. In the words used by Colin Powell, 'If you break it, you own it."

I must disagree with you on this one.....he withdrew (not even done yet) too late. And I've better quote than Powell's.
"It was already broken. We've wasted enuf money & lives."
Anonymous

 

[icehorse]

But is it really restraint or simply inability to make choices?

For example:

The Cairo speech, embarking on a new respect for the Muslim world, with the first two rows of the audience reserved for members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has since been outlawed (again) in Egypt. The crazy part of that speech was that the people in the audience knew it was all a crock and embellishing history. In short, they didn't buy into it.

The "reset" with Russia. No need to describe this one too much. A rather spectacular failure of policy.

Withdrawing from Iraq too early. Timetables are nice, but it does help if timetables coincide with reality on the ground. In the words used by Colin Powell, 'If you break it, you own it."

Dealing with Assad in Syria. This one is almost demented in the epic proportions of how badly it has been botched.

His handling of the Islamic State. Just epic stupidity.

OK, so he is easing tensions with the Castro regime on the island of Cuba. After decades, with a few smiles and promises, diplomatic relations are being restored with the very regime that has been a thorn in America's side for over 50 years. This is a huge win though - for the Castro regime, that is. America has finally seen the light of day. It's hard to make stuff like this up. Fidel and his bro must still be walking 6 inches off the ground at their good fortune.

The handling of Libya, under Gaddafi, which directly resulted in the catastrophe known as Benghazi... utter failure on steroids.

Each example could be an interesting discussion. I'll have to go back and look at the Cairo speech, I'd forgotten about that.

As for the rest, these are all tricky situations. My sense is that in the eyes of the world, the US seems far more reasonable and responsible than it did a decade ago. So, for example, how you have handled Assad? I can view that situation from several different degrees of long-term-ed-ness and arrive at conflicting strategies...

 

[Underhill]

But is it really restraint or simply inability to make choices?

For example:

The Cairo speech, embarking on a new respect for the Muslim world, with the first two rows of the audience reserved for members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has since been outlawed (again) in Egypt. The crazy part of that speech was that the people in the audience knew it was all a crock and embellishing history. In short, they didn't buy into it.

The "reset" with Russia. No need to describe this one too much. A rather spectacular failure of policy.

Withdrawing from Iraq too early. Timetables are nice, but it does help if timetables coincide with reality on the ground. In the words used by Colin Powell, 'If you break it, you own it."

Dealing with Assad in Syria. This one is almost demented in the epic proportions of how badly it has been botched.

His handling of the Islamic State. Just epic stupidity.

OK, so he is easing tensions with the Castro regime on the island of Cuba. After decades, with a few smiles and promises, diplomatic relations are being restored with the very regime that has been a thorn in America's side for over 50 years. This is a huge win though - for the Castro regime, that is. America has finally seen the light of day. It's hard to make stuff like this up. Fidel and his bro must still be walking 6 inches off the ground at their good fortune.

The handling of Libya, under Gaddafi, which directly resulted in the catastrophe known as Benghazi... utter failure on steroids.

There isn't much there I agree with. Oh, there were plenty of mistakes made. But to try and claim anyone else would have handled that mine field much better is a stretch. If anything I would say Obama, and his staff, were sometimes too optimistic (In Cairo and Russia for example).

Iraq is a mess in that leaving when we did may result in chaos, but waiting 5 years probably wouldn't make things any better. The country was bound for chaos the minute we destroyed our tyrant who maintained control with an iron grip.

You make it sound as though these decisions were made by Obama in a vacuum. But most of these calls were right in line with what our military leadership and the CIA thought was best.

And our stand off with Cuba has been stupid since the soviets fell. The rest of the world knew that years ago. By not being involved in Cuba we are opening ourselves up to possible foreign influence off the tip of Florida. Do we really want to ignore them and cede our influence to China? To pretend we are standing on principle is laughable. We have trade deals with countries whose past are much more checkered than that of Cuba. Saudi Arabia, China, Pakistan... just to name a few. What makes Cuba worse than any of those? The fact that they are no threat whatsoever? The fact that their leader is a hard sneeze from death's door? Or the fact that we have cuban nationals with some political clout who have held Florida politics captive for decades?

 

[BSM1]

But is it really restraint or simply inability to make choices?

For example:

The Cairo speech, embarking on a new respect for the Muslim world, with the first two rows of the audience reserved for members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has since been outlawed (again) in Egypt. The crazy part of that speech was that the people in the audience knew it was all a crock and embellishing history. In short, they didn't buy into it.

The "reset" with Russia. No need to describe this one too much. A rather spectacular failure of policy.

Withdrawing from Iraq too early. Timetables are nice, but it does help if timetables coincide with reality on the ground. In the words used by Colin Powell, 'If you break it, you own it."

Dealing with Assad in Syria. This one is almost demented in the epic proportions of how badly it has been botched.

His handling of the Islamic State. Just epic stupidity.

OK, so he is easing tensions with the Castro regime on the island of Cuba. After decades, with a few smiles and promises, diplomatic relations are being restored with the very regime that has been a thorn in America's side for over 50 years. This is a huge win though - for the Castro regime, that is. America has finally seen the light of day. It's hard to make stuff like this up. Fidel and his bro must still be walking 6 inches off the ground at their good fortune.

The handling of Libya, under Gaddafi, which directly resulted in the catastrophe known as Benghazi... utter failure on steroids.

Now you can add the Kerry-Taylor "French Hug" to make up for the rally foul-up to the mix. Use to be that nations feared and/or respected the power of the US; now it seems they expect a two drink minimum when it comes to our foreign policies.

 

[Revoltingest]

She appeared in the news today.....
Elizabeth Warren Bought Foreclosed Homes to Make a Quick Profit | National Review Online