President Obama’s More Than Uncomfortable Foreign Policy

On Monday, President Obama met with Vladimir Putin in Mexico to (finally) discuss the atrocities that are ongoing in Syria. The meeting was reported to be unspeakably tense, which is the norm for Obama’s meetings with foreign leaders. It is reported that, during the meeting, “the two men barely looked at each other”  and that no real agreement was made with regards to Syrian President Assad or how the situation should be handled. 

For some reason, it seems our charismatic President, always well equipped with confidence and the right thing to say, leaves all his charisma at the U.S. borderline.

There have been too many weak and extremely awkward moments for Obama with dignitaries from around the world, from Netanyahu of Israel to the Queen of England, and we are tired of America’s strength being misrepresented by an American President, supposedly the leader of the western world, who is willing to be lectured up one side and down the other by leaders of nations with whom he is supposed to be negotiating on our behalf.

When the Russian President has to point out your failed political action in the arena of foreign policy, specifically in Egypt and Libya, you know there is a problem, even more so when he is totally right. Obama has fumbled with foreign policy since taking office, not making moves until absolutely necessary and even then falling short.

An NPR article stated that “for now Obama has no choice but to lead from behind” on Syria. Sounds familiar. We heard this in 2011 with Libya, too. President Obama’s stalling has pigeon-holed him into a place where he has few options and is forced to work with next to nothing and hope for the best. This is not good enough for America. The uprising in Syria began more than a year ago. What was President Obama waiting for? In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Obama said the following:

“When there is genocide in Darfur; systematic rape in Congo; or repression in Burma there must be consequences.”

Syria might not be in Africa, but we think that the brutal murder of innocent children might quality it to fall into that category. Where were the consequences a year ago when this started happening?

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