Barack Obama’s foreign policy choices (and his domestic ones) have been deeply disturbing to many. His decision to increase troop levels in Afghanistan is probably the first good thing he’s done since taking office.
Most disturbing is his treatment of our allies. The president campaigned on “restoring America’s image in the world” and “repairing” relationships with our allies, etc. I knew at the time all that was BS, but I never imagined he would do the exact opposite.
Nile Gardiner writes in the Daily Mail about the abhorrent treatment of Britain by President Obama from the moment he took office. It seems as though he’s gone out of his way to insult or snub Britain at every opportunity.
The latest snub came in President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan at West Point. Gardiner points out that Obama never once mentioned Britain or her 10,000 troops once in his 40-minute speech.
Last week, when President Obama got to his feet at the U.S. West Point military academy to outline his administration’s plans for America’s future in Afghanistan, one subject was conspicuous by its total absence from his 40-minute speech.
For while he made much of the surge in troop numbers and the controversial phased withdrawal planned for 18 months’ time, there wasn’t a single mention of America’s main ally in the region, Britain.
Never mind that we have 10,000 troops on active service there – far more than any other of America’s so-called allies – and never mind that 237 of our brave soldiers have already lost their lives there, Great Britain wasn’t even a footnote.
Given the level of sacrifice by British troops, it was the most extraordinary and insulting oversight.
Gardiner is absolutely right. The U.K. is truly America’s greatest ally. No other country on earth has shed more blood alongside America than Britain. When America goes to war so does Britain. British troops have been involved in fierce battles of late in Afghanistan and taken heavy casualties. The least our president can do is acknowledge their presence.
Nile goes on to point out that this is not a singular incident. One of Obama’s first acts as President was to order a bust of Winston Churchill removed from the Oval Office.
Not long after that, the British Prime Minister was treated like a third world nobody when he visited Washington. He was denied an official joint press conference in the Rose Garden and given a gift of 25 dvds that only play on American players.
Obama is also a big supporter of EU policies that treat Europe as a whole and threaten the sovereignty of Britain and other EU nations.
It’s no coincidence that some of Obama’s closest advisers on European affairs, both inside the Pentagon and the State Department, are fervent believers in the idea of a federal Europe and are certainly helping those leading the charge towards a European super-state.
As a result, the Obama administration has already given its enthusiastic support to the Lisbon Treaty, the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the European Security and Defence Policy – all pan-EU initiatives.
…The threat to an independent, sovereign Britain is clear and yet, remarkably, the country leading that threat is our oldest ally.
It’s ironic that a man who campaigned on repairing alliances is doing so much to damage them. For some reason President Obama prefers talking to our enemies and giving the middle digit to our friends.
-Chris Jones
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