{"id":8263,"date":"2015-03-05T07:40:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T15:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=8263"},"modified":"2015-03-05T07:40:04","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T15:40:04","slug":"the-audacity-of-weakness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-audacity-of-weakness\/","title":{"rendered":"The Audacity of Weakness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obama\u2019s morally confused foreign policy is making the world more dangerous by the day.<\/em><\/h3>\n
by Victor Davis Hanson\u00a0\/\/ National Review Online<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

\"downloadI<\/span>sraeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress on Tuesday to warn Americans of the anti-Western threats from theocratic \u2014 and likely to soon be nuclear \u2014 Iran.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu came to the U.S. to outline the Iranian plan to remake the Middle East with a new nuclear arsenal. His warning was delivered over the objections of the Obama administration, which wants to cut a deal with Iran that allows the theocracy to continue to enrich lots of uranium.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Netanyahu received a standing ovation for stating the obvious. Iran is currently the greatest global sponsor of terrorism. Tehran now has de facto control over four Middle East nations: Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Iran has serially ignored all past U.S. deadlines to stop nuclear enrichment. It habitually misled U.N. inspectors. It threatens to spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

At one point the Iranian economy was sputtering due to Western sanctions. Hundreds of thousands of reformers hit the streets of Tehran in 2009 to protest what they believed to be the fraudulent results of a presidential election. The theocracy was worried that its nuclear plans would either cause economic collapse due to the sanctions or prompt some sort of Western military response.<\/p>\n

But all of that has changed due to the Obama administration\u2019s zeal to conclude an agreement with Iran at any cost.<\/p>\n

For the last six years, lots of American allies besides Israel have become scared of this strange new diffidence of the United States \u2014 as if the Obama administration feels that America\u2019s prior prominence as leader and protector of the West was either unwarranted, too costly, or resulted in an unfair world order in need of adjustment.<\/p>\n

President Obama entered office promising reset diplomacy with Russia. He declared an end to former president George W. Bush\u2019s punitive measures against Russia \u2014 as if somehow the United States, not Russia, was responsible for the growing estrangement.<\/p>\n

Russian president Vladimir Putin, however, interpreted the reset as American guilt. He assumed there would be few consequences to gobbling up the Crimea and eastern Ukraine in the same way that he had sliced off parts of Georgia. So far, he has been right. No wonder that he eyes the Baltic states next.<\/p>\n

Controversy surrounds the creation and spread of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. But there is no disagreement about what followed Obama\u2019s abrupt withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, as he fulfilled a campaign promise.<\/p>\n

At one time the administration bragged of Iraq as possibly its \u201cgreatest achievement,\u201d and as being \u201cstable\u201d and \u201csecure.\u201d But the precipitous pullout led to anarchy and a fertile landscape in which the Islamic State could thrive. After 2011, it turned out that the absence of U.S. troops in Iraq, not their presence, had enabled the savage terrorists.<\/p>\n

The same muddle characterized American policy in Syria. Syrian president Bashar Assad ignored Obama\u2019s \u201cred line\u201d by using chemical weapons, but Obama imposed no consequences. Then, Secretary of State John Kerry was reduced to asking Putin to negotiate a face-saving compromise \u2014 as if somehow the U.S., not Syria, had overstepped.<\/p>\n

In reaction to a series of terrorist crises \u2014 the shootings at Fort Hood, the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the killings in Ottawa and Sydney, and, most recently, the murder of journalists and Jewish citizens in Paris \u2014 the Obama administration has refused even to utter the phrase \u201cradical Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid such moral confusion, who is the American enemy and who is the ally? Netanyahu has received more administration invective than has Iran \u2014 as if a Western democratic nation, not the specter of a nuclear Iran, was the source of growing tensions.<\/p>\n

The common theme in all these examples is that somehow the United States (or its allies) is portrayed as being culpable for current problems \u2014 not the autocratic, theocratic thugs who invade their neighbors, threaten to obliterate democracies, and see terror as a legitimate tool of state policy.<\/p>\n

The Obama administration\u2019s paralysis is not just rhetorical. For the first time since 2001, defense spending will dip below 4 percent of GDP, as the Army, Navy, and Air Force shrink to near\u2013record-low postwar levels.<\/p>\n

The astronomical $18 trillion in national debt was not the only cause of military cutbacks. America\u2019s enemies understood that even massive defense cuts \u2014 and tax hikes \u2014 still did not offset vast increases in social spending, resulting in annual deficits that still run over $500 billion.<\/p>\n

The withdrawal from the world stage is associated not just with a massive borrowing and spending spree at home, but also with administration penance for supposed past self-righteousness and sins abroad \u2014 as Obama cites the gamut from the Crusades, the Inquisition, slavery, and Jim Crow to the more recent Afghanistan and Iraq wars, Guantanamo Bay, and the War on Terror.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, throughout history, leaders who have appeared weary and sounded apologetic have invited chaos. And chaos encourages war \u2014 all the more so when weakness appears so audacious.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2015 Tribune Media Services, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Obama\u2019s morally confused foreign policy is making the world more dangerous by the day. by Victor Davis Hanson\u00a0\/\/ National Review Online Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress on Tuesday to warn Americans of the anti-Western threats from theocratic \u2014 and likely to soon be nuclear \u2014 Iran. Netanyahu came to the U.S. to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[375,28,124,126,97,59,167,846,116,285,196,262],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-29h","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9704,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-resilience-of-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":8263,"position":0},"title":"The Resilience of Israel","author":"Megan Ring","date":"January 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review Despite the mess around it, Israel is in its best geostrategic position in decades. Israel would seem to be in a disastrous position, given the inevitable nuclear capabilities of Iran and the recent deterioration of its relationship with the United States, its former patron\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Russia"","block_context":{"text":"Russia","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/europe\/russia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6610,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/netanyahus-necessary-crankiness\/","url_meta":{"origin":8263,"position":1},"title":"Netanyahu’s Necessary Crankiness","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We can afford to be overly optimistic about Iran, but Israel can't. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0National Review Online\u00a0 So far, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani\u2019s peace ruse is still bearing some fruit. President Obama was eager to talk with him at the United Nations \u2014 only to be reportedly rebuffed,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Iran"","block_context":{"text":"Iran","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/iran\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/3855774245_7c8b709f4c-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8169,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/can-israel-survive-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":8263,"position":2},"title":"Can Israel Survive?","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Traditional pillars of the tiny democracy\u2019s security have begun to erode. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East and North Africa. Eight million Israelis are surrounded by some 400 million Muslims in more than 20 states. Almost all of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Middle East"","block_context":{"text":"The Middle East","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"via NRO","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/pic_giant_012915_SM_Israeli-Flag-500x292.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1711,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obamas-khrushchev-how-sick-is-that\/","url_meta":{"origin":8263,"position":3},"title":"Obama’s Khrushchev? How Sick is That?","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson NRO's\u00a0The Corner Roger Cohen wrote in the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0of Obama's putdown of Netanyahu: \"The former Soviet leader [Khrushchev] thought he could browbeat Kennedy only to discover, in Vienna, that the Kennedy charm was not unalloyed to steel ('It will be a long, cold winter'). Netanyahu was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "April 2010"","block_context":{"text":"April 2010","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2010\/april-2010\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8300,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/at-the-white-house-theres-nobody-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":8263,"position":4},"title":"At the White House, There\u2019s Nobody Home","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The absence of true leadership has created chaos at home and abroad. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review Online What has gone wrong with the U.S. government in the past month? Just about everything, from the fundamental to the ridiculous. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the United States\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Middle East"","block_context":{"text":"The Middle East","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"(Photo: White House via Flickr)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/pic_giant_031915_SM_White-House-500x278.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9736,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/9736-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":8263,"position":5},"title":"01\/12\/16 From an Angry Reader:\u2026","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"01\/12\/16 From an Angry Reader: Dear Mr Hanson: I would like to comment on your Room for Debate in the Daily Southtown regarding treatment of Israel. Where does the Prime Minister of Israel, with a population of 8 million, get off slamming President Obama of the United States with a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Angry Reader"","block_context":{"text":"Angry Reader","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/angry-reader\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8265,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8263\/revisions\/8265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}