Please forgive me for not being as smart and insightful as some. You see, I always thought that, when it comes to basic Foreign Relations 101, you're kinda friendly with your friends, and not so very friendly with your enemies.
Our president, however, is out to change America. So when Obama turns that notion on its head and starts treating our friends like enemies and our enemies like old buddies, it came as something of a surprise. And being fairly slow on the uptake, I didn't grasp the enormity of the danger that such a poicy represents - until now
This piece in The Daily Telegraph by Adrian Blomfield opens a chasm beneath the world's feet. America has a president who is out to deliberately ruin the relationship between perhaps our most vital and trusted ally in the world. And nobody can stop him:
The Israeli prime minister arrived at the White House on Tuesday evening brimming with confidence that the worst of the crisis in his country's relationship with the United States was over. Over the previous two days, he had been feted by senior Republicans and greeted warmly by members of Congress. He had also received a standing ovation from the American Israel Public Affairs Affairs Committee, one of the most influential lobby groups in the United States.
But Mr Obama was less inclined to be so conciliatory. He immediately presented Mr Netanyahu with a list of 13 demands designed both to the end the feud with his administration and to build Palestinian confidence ahead of the resumption of peace talks. Key among those demands was a previously-made call to halt all new settlement construction in east Jerusalem.
When the Israeli prime minister stalled, Mr Obama rose from his seat declaring: "I'm going to the residential wing to have dinner with Michelle and the girls."
As he left, Mr Netanyahu was told to consider the error of his ways. "I'm still around," Mr Obama is quoted by Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper as having said. "Let me know if there is anything new."
For over an hour, Mr Netanyahu and his aides closeted themselves in the Roosevelt Room on the first floor of the White House to map out a response to the president's demands.
Although the two men then met again, at 8.20 pm, for a brief second meeting, it appeared that they failed to break the impasse. White House officials were quoted as saying that disagreements remained. Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, added: "Apparently they did not reach an understanding with the United States."
It isn't just the snub that is frightening, it's the pettiness of it. There is an element of childishness in the gesture that can't be ignored. Big, grown-up superpowers don't act this way toward even their worst enemy. It's as if dangerously stupid children had taken over our foreign policy and there's no adult supervision to give them any limits.
Our president treats our allies with a breathtaking contempt that beggars belief. Consider how he has virtually destroyed the "special relationship" the US has had with Great Britain for more than 100 years. Presenting the Queen of England with an I-pod filled with his speeches? Returning a bust of Winston Churchill - WINSTON CHURCHILL? Refusing photo ops with the Prime Minister of Great Britain? Treating our allies in Copenhagen with an imperiousness that borders on megalomania? Stiffing the Poles and Czechs over missile defense?
I'm not making any of this up. And to ignore the pattern of behavior of this administration as they treat our allies in this way while speaking kindly, and gently to Iran, Venezuela, Syria and other leftist thugs in the world, abandoning the promotion of democracy and human rights - the question asks itself; will we have any allies left by the time Obama leaves office?
Hat Tip: Ethel Fenig
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