- MUST READS
- PRODUCTS
- RESOURCES
- MULTIMEDIA
- ENFACTLOPEDIA
- FSM AUTHORS
- ABOUT US
- CONTACT US
- FSM BLOG
- DONATE
- PRESS COVERAGE
SEARCH FSM
- IN THIS SECTION
September 30, 2009
Exclusive: Obama Makes UN Hungry for More Worldwide Anti-Democratic Behavior
James Carafano, PhD, Presidential Policy: Does It Make the Grade?
It was a busy Washington week for national security and foreign policy matters. The White House probably thinks it did pretty well. I think not.
The ground zero for much of the bad news was New York where President Obama addressed the United Nations. When will people learn that this body hardly serves the interests of nations in the manner FDR envisioned when he first floated the idea?
Even as the president was heading to the podium for an address the General Assembly, the UN was up to no good. On June 28th, President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was removed from power with support of Honduras’ Congress and the nation’s courts. Last week, Zelaya slipped back into the country ahead of national elections. With the backing of the likes of Chávez and Castro, is looks like he plans to resume his anti-democratic, trouble-making agenda. According to Heritage analyst Brett Schaefer, “U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution supporting Zelaya.” To make matters worse, they ejected the Honduran ambassador from the UN Human Rights Council. The U.S., which recently rejoined the council, did nothing to prevent this outrage. In fact, the White House has been following Chávez’s lead and supporting Zelaya!
When President Obama got up to speak he did little to advance America’s reputation as a champion of democracy. Mostly, the president continued his penchant for apologizing for the nation’s past efforts at exercising global leadership. Schaefer concluded, “The other U.N. member states have to be beside themselves with glee. President Obama gave them virtually everything they could ask for without demanding anything in return that was not already on the agenda – and which they are prepared to twist to their advantage. He did not even ask them to support more accountability, transparency, or efficiency in the U.N., which will be leading action on the very complex and expensive tasks that he is proposing. The Obama administration probably thinks that its actions and this speech have purchased them the goodwill of U.N. member states, which will translate into support for U.S. policies. They are setting themselves up for disappointment.” In short, rather than curb the UN appetite for anti-democratic mischief, he may have just made them hungry for more.
To make matters worse, Afghan war expert Lisa Curtis found that the speech at the “United Nations General Assembly reveals that he is beginning to second-guess U.S. strategy in the region. While he stated clearly that his administration would not allow al-Qaeda to find sanctuary in Afghanistan or “any other nation” (i.e. Pakistan), he did not so much as mention the Taliban insurgency that is threatening to engulf Afghanistan and the necessity of preventing such an outcome. His backtracking on Afghanistan also is evident in statements he made on this past Sunday’s morning talk shows in which he openly questioned whether the U.S. is pursuing the right strategy in Afghanistan and whether fighting the Taliban insurgency is necessary to stopping al Qaeda.” Backtracking on Afghanistan would be a strategic disaster on the United States. The president’s remarks, however, may signal he is about ready to cut and run.
Here at home, word of a disrupted terrorist plot linked to al Qaeda. That would raise the number of plots foiled since 9/11 to 24. The good news is that the administration seems to have acted responsibly to foiling the threat and alerting the public. Also last week, administration officials acted correctly defending reauthorization of key provisions of the Patriot Act.
Government efforts at combating terrorism here at home contrasted sharply with the folly at the UN. That keeps the White House from earning another “F” for its weekly efforts to keep America safe, free and prosperous.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affaires, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation. Feedback: editorialdirector@familysecuritymatters.org.
Reader Comments: Submit Your Comment (0)
| Print This E-mail This |
|
