It is reckless to abandon diplomacy and negotiations and go directly to armed conflict every time a difference appears on the world stage. That would guarantee continuous warfare at a level well above what we see even now. The world cannot stand that amount of insanity and hostilities. On the other hand, caving on principles at the first sign of a disagreement only encourages hostile actors.
What is needed are actions that are between these two extremes, informed by clear objectives and a clear foreign policy. That’s where Mr. Obama fails as he caves far too often and far too soon. The result is that foreign governments have learned not to take his pronouncements very seriously.
In the latest example, we see that directions to the U.S. Navy were not based on a consistent foreign policy, but on the fear that we might upset the Chinese. From leaked documents we learn the following:
“The US Navy should launch freedom of navigation operations as soon as possible, and before China fully militarizes the ‘islands,’ to establish the principle that we consider this to be international waters. We were told that there is a broad consensus to do so, but it is being held-up at the highest levels of the White House,” Stuart Eizenstat, a member of the Defense Policy Board, a Department of Defense adviser, told Hillary Clinton’s top foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan in an email released in the latest WikiLeaks dump.
Continuing, a working paper from Defense Policy Board Chairman John Hamre stated:
“Chinese island building does present complications from a military point of view, but the significance is more broadly a strategic political move designed to establish Chinese dominance and marginalize U.S. influence in the region,” the working paper noted. “A delay on ‘freedom of navigation’ operations is hurting U.S. standing in the region. It will become more difficult and confrontational to launch freedom of navigation operations AFTER China has militarized the newly-built islands.”
But a “delay” is precisely what the Obama Administration offered:
Defense officials indicated that the Obama administration opposed sending ships within 12 nautical miles of China’s man-made and illegally-acquired islands because such actions were provocative and could negatively impact U.S.-China relations, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
While the White House floundered, China reclaimed incredible amounts of land and began developing military outposts in the South China Sea.
And reportedly, it took Congress to move the Obama Administration to take action.
It was reportedly only after Congress put pressure on the administration that the administration agreed to conduct a freedom of navigation operation. The guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed past an artificial island in the Spratly Islands on Oct. 27, 2015. Since then, the U.S. has conducted three more freedom of navigation operations, with the most recent having taken place last Friday.
That’s not the sort of leadership from our administration that inspires confidence, is it? What it does inspire, however, is the increased willingness of nations with interests at variance to the US to either act unilaterally without bothering to engage the US in negotiations, or to press their interests in any negotiations with greater vigor.
In other words, Obama caved again, and US influence took the hit.
Source: The Daily Caller
Photo: Pamela Geller
You got that right!!….
Sum Ting Wong
Wimpy president.