Witnessing the Fundamental Transformation Pt. 5

"We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."
Barack Obama, 5 days before Election Day, November 2008

FOREIGN POLICY
"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."  Barack Obama, April 2009

This pretty much sums up Obama's foreign policy right here.  The notion of American exceptionalism suggests that we have a unique place in the world thanks to our constitutional ideals of individual liberty, our economic and military might, our role as defenders of freedom. We got the first hint of our President's perspective in early 2009 when Obama made the infamous 'apology tour' across three continents, telling the world how sorry he was for America's security and economic interests, and flatly embarrassing this country to the pleasure of dictators like Chavez, Castro and Ahmadinejad. We have watched while he bowed to the Saudis and the Chinese as though an American President should be deferential.  I suppose this was part of his plan to 'improve our standing' in the world. Well, it hasn't. He has made it worse.

In the past five years, he has appeased our enemies and disrespected our allies.

Obama's 'reset' policy with Russia amounted to a series of concessions on nuclear arms which turned out to be one-sided; he got nothing in return. Putin's standing on the world stage is unmistakeably stronger now, and continues to ally himself with the likes of our enemies in the Mideast. Russia has been expanding its control over energy sources in Europe, which will allow it to exert more influence on that continent and elsewhere. Russia's return to pre-Cold War status is increasingly evident. Of course, this is enabled, in part, by America's decreasing role in looking out for the best interests of this country and our allies.

During his first term, Obama cancelled the deal the U.S. had with Poland and the Czech Republic to provide protection from ballistic missiles, in deference to Russia's reaction. At the time, the Polish President accused Obama of betrayal.

Countries like Pakistan and North Korea have been building up their nuclear forces.

China has become increasingly important to us, in that they are the biggest foreign owner of U.S. treasuries. It's official news agency has called for the creation of a "de-Americanized world."

The Mideast
Iran, now with fewer sanctions to deter it, continues to snub its nose at the world regarding their nuclear program. By essentially allowing Iran to 'run free' Obama is creating a huge problem around the world. Iran is the greatest sponsor of terrorism and is training people in Mexico and South America, in addition to groups in the Mideast. They are putting the rest of the Middle East in danger and of course, Israel is at the top of their list. Even with the regime change there, the desire to rid the world of the Jewish state remains a priority.

During this administration, Obama has called on Israel to stop settlement building, including in East Jerusalem, which prior to this president, was never put on the table. This led to a freeze in negotiations between the two sides. Obama has also called on Israel to release terrorists and turn them over to the Palestinians. And let's not forget the very disrespectful ways in which he treated Netanyahu when he came to visit the White House. Obama's anti-Israel sentiment was confirmed by his appointments of Samantha Power, Susan Rice, John Brennan and Chuck Hagel to his administration.

Libyan leader Gadhafi  had come around to abandoning his WMD programs during the Bush years, probably in fear for his life after 9/11 and the fate of Saddam Hussein. Yet, Obama called for his ouster, only to assassinate him in the end. Was military involvement in Libya really necessary at the time?

Obama repeatedly called for the ouster of Hosni Mubarek, President of Egypt and American ally. While Mubarek was no nice guy, his successors were infinitely worse for Egypt as well as for America. And, Mubarek respected Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. With the tacit approval of the American administration,  the Muslim Brotherhood was ushered in as the new regime. The MB is the umbrella group for several terrorists groups whose primary objective is to create a Muslim caliphate and establish Sharia law throughout the world. Now in Egypt, the cabinet is working to correct this mistake and oust the MB from the leadership.

Fact: More than twice as many American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan during Obama's first 3 1/2 years than in Bush's 8 years. Fact: Obama more than tripled the number of troops in Afghanistan during his first two years.

Elsewhere in the region, the persecution of Christians has increased over the last few years, with nary a word from this president. Silence, too, when the Syrian rebels were calling for the dismissal of dictator Assad over his use of chemical weapons, and when the Iranian freedom fighters a few years back wanted Ahmadinejad to step down.

Obama's success in foreign policy - the capturing and killing of Osama bin Laden. Worthy to note that it was thanks to the continuance of Bush's policies that intelligence was able to find him.

Either Obama doesn't understand the nature of our enemies, or, is naive to think that apologies and concessions will curry favor with them. Either way, it serves to diminish our status in the world. Islamic jihadists are on the rise and there is no comprehensive strategy to defeat them. Our allies learned that they can't trust us. In a recent poll, the majority of Americans see the country's power across the globe as declining. The world is less safe; in fact, it is in chaos. While America used to speak out for liberty, our president continues to ignore freedom fighters where they crop up. America is not exceptional, according to Obama, so the question begs.  If America will not be the leader on the world stage, who will be?

THE MILITARY
Decorated retired Army Maj. General Patrick Brady claims Obama's agenda is to destroy the morale of the military, to the point where "members no longer feel prepared to fight or have the desire to win." Brady stated, "there is no doubt he is intent on emasculating the military and will fire anyone who disagrees with him" over issues like "homosexuals, women in foxholes, the Obama sequester."

According to recent reports, Obama has purged 197 officers in the past few years, primarily those who disagreed with him or were disloyal to the administration.

Retired Army Lt. General William G. Boykin, former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Intelligence under President Bush recently stated, "over the past 3 years, it is unprecedented for the number of four-star generals to be relieved of duty, and not necessarily relieved for cause. I believe there is a purging of the military. The problem is worse than we have ever seen." http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/top-generals-obama-is-purging-the-military/

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely, contends that Obama has been working unilaterally with Russia to reduce nuclear weapons without a treaty, which requires Senate ratification. Vallely charges that Obama's goal is to "destroy U.S. military superiority" to the "advantage of our global enemies." His plan to reduce the Pentagon budget by $1.3 trillion over the next ten years will impact on weapons, equipment and personnel.
http://www.examiner.com/article/retired-military-commanders-say-obama-puposefully-weakening-us-military

Early in his Presidency, Obama put into place new Rules of Engagement for combat, which in turn, resulted in higher casualties in Afghanistan that included the loss of 17 members of Seal Team 6 in one incident.

Additionally, under his reign, there have been numerous incidents of hostility towards religion. It is widely believed that Obama is pushing a secular, anti-religious agenda on the military.  Early in the administration, the Dept. of Defense met with the "Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that is focused on silencing religious freedom in the military."  http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/13/Congress-Investigating-Obama-Admin-Hostility-to-Religious-Liberty-in-the-Military

A few months ago, when the government shutdown went into effect, decisions were made to inflict the most disruption on the public.  The National Park Service chose to close down war memorials, which, in the end, cost more to keep closed than it would have to remain open. Seven security guards were sent to the WWII memorial to keep out the vets, as compared with five security guards who were guarding our consulate in Benghazi when four Americans were killed.

In Barack Obama's eyes, America is unexceptional. He sees our role in the world as important, or unimportant, as every other country. What he fails to see, is that the free world has looked to America for its leadership and stability, but he has been intently working on leveling the playing field. Our enemies are emboldened by him, our allies are weakened by him.  He has profoundly weakened our military on many levels. Russia has re-emerged on the world stage, once again, as a power to be reckoned with.  Barack Obama is fundamentally transforming the United States of America through his foreign policy and by undermining our military.