About last night …

It’s great he made a (short) tribute to the troops in the field and pledged
more services for our returning servicemen and -women, but it would’ve been
better if he visited those troops more often, especially in Afghanistan, in his
first year in office. While making a short trip to Iraq last spring,
regrettably, Obama hasn’t been to Afghanistan since he was a candidate in July
2008 — that’s about a year and a half ago now.

He also didn’t sound very tough on the North Korean or Iranian nuclear matters,
either. Just more of Obama’s “If we’re nice to them; they’ll be nice to us” national
security strategy — and veiled promises of drawing another line in the sand.
That isn’t going to work. A year of his engagement policy has just allowed Iran
to move continually closer to joining the once-exclusive Mushroom Cloud Club. North
Korea lit off nukes and missiles during his first year and won’t even come back
to the negotiating table.

From what I recall, not a word about missile defense, which will be needed to
protect us against both Iran and North Korea.

Regarding Iran, it was also amusing to hear the president say: “We support the
human rights of the women marching through the streets of Iran.” OK, fine, but
just “women”? What about the rest of the Iranians protesting their repressive
government? Wonder if that was his response to the placards in the streets of
Tehran held by demonstrators who have asked Obama whether he is with them or
the regime?

Obama was weak on international trade agreements, too, referring to languishing
FTAs with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, but giving himself plenty of wiggle
room. His proclamation about loosening export controls to boost trade could
mean that sensitive dual-use technology would flow to military opponents.

I could go on — and on — but suffice it to say, his claim of America’s international
leadership during his tenure is hollow, based on the facts on the ground, much
less last night’s speech. We deserve better. We must have better if we are to
protect and advance our interests in an increasingly dangerous world.

Like I predicted yesterday on this blog, the president spent little time on
foreign policy issues last night. But worse than that, he didn’t say much in
the fewer than 1,000 words he uttered on the subject, which is surprising
considering our central role in world affairs.