Obama's flawed world view has led to disaster for US and its allies

Noemie Emery:

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Bush knew American power was the solution when applied properly; Obama thought it was the problem and used it erratically when he used it at all. He thought reducing American presence and sway in the world would lead to world peace, and he was mistaken. He thought the ‘reset' button would mollify Russian president Vladimir Putin, who mocked him, absorbed Crimea and began to move in on Ukraine.

He thought courting Iran would make it loosen its fist, but it tightened further. He thought not pressuring Syria would lead to less war, and the atrocities multiplied.

He thought he could stop wars simply by leaving before the issues were settled, and the results are now obvious. "For years, President Obama has been claiming credit for 'ending wars' when...he was pulling the United States out of wars that were far from over," said the Washington Post, correctly. "Now the pretense is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain."

The National Journal's James Oliphant calls Obama's decision to send 300 advisers into Iraq a tacit admission that many of the assumptions he held of the world -- that American power is better defined by its limits -- have clearly been wrong.

His misreading of power runs deeper that that.

"Mr. Obama is not a pacifist," says the Telegraph's Charles Moore. "He sees the use of force in [some] situations. What he does not see is its strategic value ... that the Pax Americana, under whose protection we have lived since 1945, has existed because it has always been backed by the credible threat of force. Weakness is provocative to bad actors, and some of the worst have now been provoked. This seems to come as an almost complete surprise to the Obama White House. The Peace President is starting to leave a legacy of war."

Bush had to change plans, but Obama will have to shift his entire worldview to gain just a small hold upon what is unfolding.
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Obama, like many of the people around him overrated his own intellect.  One of the few things he has demonstrated is the failure of the liberal approach to the use of power.  It has led to losses for the US and disaster for those who depend on the effective use of US power.