In fact, the Washington Post Editorial Board thinks pretty poorly of
YOU CAN’T fault President Obama for inconsistency (well, yes, you can. It really is amateur hour). After winning election in 2008, he reduced the U.S. military presence in Iraq to zero. After helping to topple Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011, he made sure no U.S. forces would remain. He has steadfastly stayed aloof, except rhetorically, from the conflict in Syria. And on Tuesday he promised to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2016.
The Afghan decision would be understandable had Mr. Obama’s previous choices proved out. But what’s remarkable is that the results also have been consistent — consistently bad. Iraq has slid into something close to civil war, with al-Qaeda retaking territory that U.S. Marines once died to liberate. In Syria, al-Qaeda has carved out safe zones that senior U.S. officials warn will be used as staging grounds for attacks against Europe and the United States. Libya is falling apart, with Islamists, secularists, military and other factions battling for control.
We hope Afghanistan can avoid that fate. But the last time the United States cut and ran from there, after the Soviet Union withdrew, the result was the Taliban takeover, al-Qaeda’s safe havens and, eventually, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, after which everyone said, well, we won’t make that mistake again.
Personally, I’m not too concerned about finally withdrawing troops. We’ve done our bit. Really, it can’t get much better in that regressive shithole through military force, not when so many of the nutjob Islamists are right across the border in Pakistan. That said, what we’ve seen again and again is #hashtag type foreign policy. A lot of brief noise, then the issue is forgotten about for months or years. Like most of Obama’s domestic and foreign policy. There’s no follow through, there’s no one keeping an eye on the ball. It’s policy in the moment.
The Lonely Conservative notes
I just heard John Kerry shouting on TV about the Afghanistan draw down, comparing it to children having deadlines for doing their homework. He was referring to President Obama’s announcement that all but 9,800 troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year, just in time for the midterm elections.
Speaking of Senor Waffles, Ed Morrissey notes this tweet
Sec of State @JohnKerry blames an "industry of oppositionists" for criticism of foreign policy. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/euDphjcVFf
— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) May 28, 2014
and writes
This comes from the man who launched his own career by attacking the conduct of the US military during the Vietnam War as something out of Genghis Khan. He joined up with anti-war organizers in their own “industry of oppositionists,†and even as late as the Iraq War managed to join in with fellow anti-war voices to criticize George W. Bush’s foreign policy. All of this certainly benefited Kerry, but now suddenly any criticism of foreign policy under his and Obama’s direction is just the product of an “industry of oppositionists� That’s rank hypocrisy.
Well, yeah, Dems are all about momentary opportunism.
