In his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening, President Barack Obama touted his foreign policy successes–but failed to mention Yemen, where Shia militias overthrew the government earlier in the day, and where Americans anxiously anticipated evacuation from the embassy and the country.
“I believe in a smarter kind of American leadership. We lead best when we combine military power with strong diplomacy; when we leverage our power with coalition building; when we don’t let our fears blind us to the opportunities that this new century presents. That’s exactly what we’re doing right now –and around the globe, it is making a difference,” Obama said, repeating themes from earlier speeches.
However, Obama did not address the crisis in Yemen. Nor did he mention the annexation of the Crimea by Russia–though he did claim that his administration was “upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small — by opposing Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine’s democracy, and reassuring our NATO allies.” He also claims to be “stopping ISIL’s advance” in Iraq and Syria.
Obama also said that “we stand united with people around the world who’ve been targeted by terrorists — from a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris,” though he was absent from last year’s gathering of dozens of world leaders in France. He also appeared to equate speaking out against antisemitism–which has resulted in the murder of Jews–with rejecting “offensive stereotypes of Muslims .”
Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak edits Breitbart California and is the author of the new ebook, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party, available for Amazon Kindle.
Follow Joel on Twitter: @joelpollak
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