Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Remember: He's the Foreign Policy President

In his speech accepting the Democrat Nomination for President, Barack Obama made mention that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan don't have his foreign policy experience.  Now, beyond the sheer gall required for someone who's only "foreign policy experience" prior to gaining the Presidency involved believing that 'Austrian' was a language, I don't think I would run on foreign policy if I had the President's record.

Let's address the assertion that Mitt Romney has no foreign policy experience first, though, because it's obviously false if you think about it for just a couple of minutes.  As the founder and leader of an international corporation, Mitt Romney interacted with foreign cultures at many levels- from the purely personal up through various levels of government.  As head of the Winter Olympic Games held in Utah, he, again, interacted with various countries at various levels of government.  More pertinent to actual foreign policy, he had to juggle their needs and demands quite judiciously to bring of a successful Olympic Games.  As Governor of the State of Massachusetts, he was one of those government officials with whom international businessmen interacted.  Additionally, he would have interacted on a directly diplomatic basis with various foreign governments, as he tried to entice foreign companies (which are often tied to their home country's national interests) to open facilities in his state. 

So it is fairly safe to say that Mitt Romney has at least as much, and really more, than Barack Obama had in 2008.

Now, let's consider Obama's foreign policy experience since 2008.

Immediately after taking office, Barack Obama returned the bust of Winston Churchill which had graced the White House for decades to Great Briton, offending our ally.  He scolded Israel for their position regarding settlement expansion, offending our ally.  He went on a "World Apology Tour" where he bowed before several foreign leaders and declared that America was not actually exceptional.  He joined in two wars without congressional authorization- making those actions illegal.  He failed to support a genuinely democratic uprising in Iran, and supported faux democratic uprisings (really lead by the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization) in, among other places, Egypt and Libya.

Now, Egypt appears to be becoming more hostile to Israel, Iran is unabashedly pursuing nuclear arms, and our allies have good reason to believe we won't be there to support them.

But remember: he's the Foreign Policy President.

Then, yesterday- on the anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, savages in Egypt and Libya stormed our embassies.  In Egypt, they literally stormed the walls, tore down the US Flag, and raised a flag to Al Qaida.  In Libya, they fire-bombed the embassy, and killed the US Ambassador and at least two of his staff in what is being described, alternatively, as a mortar or missile attack.

But remember: he's the Foreign Policy President.

Immediately after the act of war in Cairo, the Cairo embassy Apologized for America, and claimed that Americans were responsible for the attack, because we'd upset their poor Muslim sensibilities.

Immediately after the act of war in Benghazi, the President "condemned the attack."  No further action appears to be in the offing.

Does anyone believe that the Cairo embassy would have apologized for upsetting poor Muslim sensibilities after having been attacked under Mitt Romney?  Does anyone think that he would issue a mere "strongly worded letter," to Libya?

But remember: Barack Obama is a the Foreign Policy President.

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