Foreign policy failures adding up

President Obama’s international record is cause for alarm. By bowing and apologizing to foreign leaders, scrapping plans for installing missile defenses in Poland and Czechoslovakia in order to appease Russia (who has returned the favor by refusing to help end the killing in Syria, and by expelling USAID), telling the Russian foreign minister that he’ll be able to be more flexible after the election, and allowing our embassies to forego proper military protection, he has severely damaged our country’s standing in the world for years to come.

Meanwhile, Iran is racing ahead to make a nuclear bomb, with the stated intent of wiping Israel off the map, but the president’s schedule precludes a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, whose pleas for help are regarded by the president as “noise.” Don’t worry though; Obama did have time to chat with David Letterman and sit in on “The View.”

Currently, with massive protests taking place in several Muslim countries, the White House and a compliant media are trying to spin the entire disaster as the direct result of a stupid, obscure and insulting movie. But it turns out that Clint Eastwood’s characterization of “the empty chair president” was prescient. White House records indicate that Obama skipped face-to-face intelligence briefings in the days leading up to the attack in Libya. But he did campaign in Las Vegas the next day.

In November 2008, we were told that once Barack Obama took office, the U.S. would have improved relations with nations around the world. We were told that foreign leaders were tired of George Bush, and couldn’t wait for Obama to be sworn in. We were told that Obama’s new smart diplomacy was going to cause the world to live in harmony after his inauguration. How is that all working out for us now?

John Greer

Arlington Heights