‘Hope and Change’ is Destroying America’s Military and Security

Ouch:

Hope Doctrine’ risks America’s security
By Armstrong Williams
Washington Times

Over the past month, President Obama has continuously and naively put America’s security at grave risk. At the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September, Mr. Obama unintentionally announced his “Hope Doctrine” to promote world peace. In “our efforts to promote peace … the most powerful weapon in our arsenal is the hope of human beings.”

This statement is the naive keystone of his foreign policy of apology and appeasement. It explains his implicit willingness to impose unilateral nuclear disarmament on the U.S., his ambivalence on deploying additional troops in Afghanistan, his dismantling the Eastern European missile defense shield, and his toothless pursuit of nuclear containment in Iran without credible threats of sanctions or military action.

What is more amazing is that his kitchen cabinet sits idly by and allows him to continue this march toward destroying the military supremacy of the lone super power in the world.

At the U.N. meeting, Mr. Obama continued his mission of apologizing to the world for America’s past foreign policy and replacing it with a policy of appeasement. The president told the assembly how his administration is “responsibly” ending the war in Iraq. (Not winning the war!) He proudly trumped his administration’s pursuit of reductions in nuclear warheads with Russia. (Although the Russians have not indicated whether they will meaningfully participate.)

The next day, Mr. Obama, the first American president to chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, presided over the passage of a toothless nuclear nonproliferation resolution. The Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons was the immediate target of this resolution. However, in order to get the resolution passed, Mr. Obama acknowledged that the U.S. was part of the nuclear proliferation problem and would have to limit its arsenal. While the resolution does not have any teeth in it, the president of the United States announced his willingness to substantially disarm the U.S. without getting any specified concessions.

At the end of his U.N. speeches, Mr. Obama basked in the applause and adulation of those who can’t wait for him to weaken America’s military and foreign policy. Nations without nuclear arms or ambitions praised Mr. Obama’s role in the security council’s nonproliferation resolution and his implicit willingness to impose unilateral nuclear disarmament on the U.S.

Not surprisingly, shortly after the applause stopped, Iran disclosed that it had a second secret nuclear facility and test-fired two missiles. Apparently Mr. Obama knew about this secret facility for some time. Incredibly, he chose to ignore its existence at the Security Council meeting so he could get a toothless resolution passed to the adulation of the U.N. diplomatic corps.

Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East, did not even show up for the U.N. addresses. It did not want to listen to Mr. Obama throw it under the bus again. At an earlier session, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the General Assembly that “the most urgent challenge facing this body is to prevent the tyrants of Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Are the member states of the United Nations up to that challenge?”

Clearly, Israel is. It has no choice if it wants to continue to exist. It is all but certain that Israel is preparing to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities on its own before Iran can develop nuclear weapons. The only questions are how and when. Israel does not buy into the “Hope Doctrine” because its very existence is at stake.

Outside of the U.N., Mr. Obama also has spent much of the past month signaling to the world that he wants to reduce American power and strategic advantages. A few weeks ago, the president announced the U.S. will unilaterally dismantle its missile defense shield in Eastern Europe without any concessions from the Russians. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putincan’t believe he got a major U.S. concession with no quid pro quo. Mr. Obama “hopes” the Russians will reciprocate. I would rather not bet America’s security on Mr. Obama’s “hope.”

Last month, the president postponed consideration of his commanding general’s recommendation to increase troops in Afghanistan in order to win the Afghanistan war. Over the past nine months, the president spent more time talking to David Letterman on his TV show than toGen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top military commander in Afghanistan.

When the president did meet with his commanding general, it was a half-hour side show on Air Force One – after his unsuccessful pitch for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s political machine to have the 2016 Summer Olympics take place in his city. No wonder al Qaeda and the Taliban are sensing inevitable U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Since Mr. Obama announced his “Hope Doctrine,” it makes sense for them to “hope” for America’s eventual retreat.

Incredibly, if Mr. Obama has his way, he will emasculate America’s foreign policy and military power. This is the inevitable result of Mr. Obama’s “Hope Doctrine.” The president’s behavior and statements over the past month make this clear. The president believes that “hope” is a more powerful weapon against al Qaeda and the Taliban than the U.S. military! He “hopes” that discussions with Iran will lead to nuclear containment without a diplomatic or military “stick.” Is this the “change” that Americans were looking for when they elected him president?

Unfortunately, Mr. Obama has forgotten, if he ever knew, that foreign policy is not charity policy. Our president is playing a vicious game of international relations in which the players don’t all play by the rules. It takes an incredibly savvy man to play in a game where smoke and mirrors dominate. In the end, the weak and unarmed man loses.

The primary role of the president of the United States is to put America first and defend it against all enemies. The dismantling of our national security has no place in protecting the American people.

“The Armstrong Williams Show” is broadcast weeknights on XM Satellite’s Power 169 channel from 9 to 10 p.m.

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