President Obama’s central foreign policy accomplishment, according to his campaign, is the killing of Osama Bin Laden. And it’s quite an accomplishment: finding a man hidden halfway around the globe, ensconced among his multiple wives, with no access to the outside world, protected by local Pakistani security forces, wielding little or no power.
Meanwhile, however, other things were going on the world. So let’s try to balance President Obama’s foreign policy record over the last four years.
An American diplomat’s body lies dead in Benghazi, Libya and the American embassy smolders there today. But Obama killed Bin Laden!
Libya itself has fallen into the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood after President Obama allowed rebel Islamists to depose cruel but unilaterally-disarmed dictator Muammar Qadaffi. But, hey, Bin Laden’s dead!
The American flag at the US embassy in Egypt sits in a tattered heap of ashes in Cairo and mobs have raised a flag reading, “There is no god but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger.” A few hours beforehand, the US State Department issued a letter condemning people for offending Muslims. Seriously. Egypt used to be an American ally under strongman Hosni Mubarak, but President Obama first forced Mubarak to allow the Muslim Brotherhood to his seminal 2009 speech in Cairo, then allowed the removal of Mubarak in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt has quickly militarized the Sinai Peninsula, funneled weapons to terrorists in the Gaza Strip, and declared Israel its number one enemy. And Mohammed Morsi, the new president, has consolidated his hold over the Egyptian military. Today, Egyptians chanted, “Obama, Obama, there are still a billion Osamas!” The good news: Bin Laden’s still dead.
Iran is perilously close to developing nuclear weapons. And the Obama administration is doing its utmost to prevent Israel from stopping that development. Obama’s administration has leaked information about Israeli action against Iran time after time after time after time. Obama’s Democratic National Committee removed pro-Israel language from its platform, then put part of it back, but left most of it out, including condemnation of Hamas, opposition to forcing Israel back to the pre-1967 borders, and opposing the so-called Palestinian “right of return.” Obama’s State Department still refuses to label Jerusalem Israel’s capital. Obama pushed Israel to freeze settlements without making any material requirements of the Palestinians; he said that Israel should base any negotiations on the pre-1967 borders. Obama’s administration banned Israel from a counterterrorism conference. Obama has personally insulted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more than once. Most recently, Obama rejected a request for a meeting from Netanyahu – even as the UN meets to consider what, if any, action should be taken against Iran. That same day, Obama accepted an invite to appear on David Letterman. The head of Obama’s joint chiefs has essentially abandoned Israel. At the same time, the Iranian regime is more secure than ever thanks to Obama’s apathy during the failed Iranian uprising in 2009. But at least Bin Laden’s not around to see this.
With the highly-touted withdrawal from Iraq, President Obama has turned Iraq into a proxy state for Iran. Waves of violence continue to plague the country – on Sunday, violence left 79 dead and 270 wounded. You know who would have been happy about all this? Bin Laden. But Obama killed him. So there.
In Syria, the Islamist Awakening has spawned an Islamist rebellion. This time, they’re taking on the Iranian-sponsored Syrian government. No matter who wins, America loses. You know who else loses? Bin Laden. ‘Cuz he’s dead.
Tunisia used to be an American ally. It was very much like Libya: ruled by a nasty dictator, but a nasty dictator who quashed anti-American terrorism. Then Obama arrived. Now the dictator’s gone, and the Islamists have taken over. In other news, Osama Bin Laden remains deceased.
The Turkish government has been Islamist since 2003, but President Bush had worked hard to moderate their stance; in 2005, the Islamist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Israel. After Obama was elected in 2009, Erdogan quickly moved to consolidate his extremist base, using Israel’s anti-terror actions in Gaza to vocally oppose Israel and back terrorist flotillas sending arms and goods to Hamas in Gaza. Meanwhile, Turkey is drawing closer to one of America’s geopolitical rivals, Russia. This is not good news for America. But hey, it’s not good news for Osama, either, because he’s a corpse!
Speaking of Russia, President Obama and his administration promised to help set a “Reset” button with Russia. As it turns out, “Reset” was another word for “Surrender.” Over and over again, Obama administration has kowtowed to the Russian regime, most recently when Obama pledged “flexibility” to the Putin quasi-dictatorship in exchange for Russia not sounding off too much during the presidential election. But that was just the most recent offense – Obama started his tenure by throwing Poland under the bus by cancelling the placement of missile defense systems there. Russia has extended her sphere of influence in Central and Eastern Europe. And Obama’s bowing to Russia has extended to his willingness to allow the Russians to completely control the direction of America’s policy in the Middle East; Russia has blocked action against Iran and Syria. Bin Laden might be happy about all this, if he were alive to see it. But thanks to Obama, he’s not!
In South America, things are no better. Early in Obama’s tenure, he sided with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez over a democratic coup taking place in Honduras. He insisted that a Chavez acolyte who was seizing power be left in power in Honduras. He’s accepted gifts from Chavez, including anti-American books, and declared that Chavez is harmless. Chavez, meanwhile, calls Obama a “good guy.” But you know who didn’t think Obama was a “good guy”? A dude named Osama Bin Laden.
Moving slightly north, to Mexico, President Obama has done nothing about the absolute chaos engulfing our southern neighbor. Actually, that’s not true – his administration has funneled guns to the drug cartels via Fast and Furious, which resulted in the death of Americans, then covered it up. Also, Obama has unilaterally legalized vast numbers of illegal immigrants without Congressional approval, drawing more and more illegal immigrants across the border like a magnet. You know who would have enjoyed porous borders? You guessed it: Bin Laden. But he’s not here to enjoy them, is he?
America doesn’t have the money to pay for all the benefits for those illegal immigrants. In fact, America doesn’t have the cash to pay for much of anything these days. The good news: Obama has now based vast swaths of American domestic policy on our ability to borrow vast quantities of cash from the Chinese. The Chinese are only too happy to swallow that debt, then use their gained leverage to push for more power on the world stage. They, along with Russia, now control the entire direction of the United Nations. They are asserting themselves in the South China Sea, routinely violating sea law and the rights of American allies like the Philippines and Taiwan. They work with Iran on Iran’s nuclear facilities. And they prop up North Korea – a regime Obama has done nothing to change despite the death of Kim Jung Il. It’s something that should worry Americans. You know who’s not worried? Bin Laden, since he’s dead.
How about Osama’s beloved home base, Afghanistan? It’s on the verge of being lost, thanks to Obama’s precipitous timeline. American casualties are up; American chances of victory are down. And while Obama says that the Taliban has been blunted, America has greenlit negotiations with the ever-strengthening Taliban. Bin Laden could still have gone back to Afghanistan in a few months … if he were alive, that is.
There’s a reason that Osama Bin Laden is the central plank of Obama’s platform. He’s the only plank. Obama’s foreign policy record has made the world a much more dangerous place. Jimmy Carter just lost Afghanistan and Iran. Barack Obama has lost Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Tunisia; he’s alienated Britain, Israel, Poland, and India; he’s bowed to Iran, Russia, China, and Venezuela.
The bad news: America is now at her lowest foreign policy ebb since the end of the Cold War.
The good news: Bin Laden’s dead.
Call it a toss-up.
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