The Iranian Discussions Are A Case In Point
Over the past weekend the group of six met in New York City to discuss the next step in the battle with Iran over it's movement towards developing a nuclear weapons capability. In this instance, China through in the monkey wrench when they sent a low-level diplomat with no decision making power. But if you ask the administration, all went well:
(Press TV) "The United States has declared that the P5+1 group's latest talks on the nuclear standoff with Iran have been constructive.
“We are moving on both tracks,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley on Tuesday, referring to diplomacy and the threat of further sanctions.
“We believe we are making progress,” AFP quoted Crowley as saying"
Really?
It is yet another example of the weakened stature of the United States in only the one year that Obama has been in office. He gave up missile defense in Eastern Europe to appease the Russians and get their help with Iran, but we did not get anything in return for betraying our allies. He has asked China for its help, and in return gets a low level diplomat at meetings that were to be substantive. He gave the Iranians a December 31st deadline to come to terms with the United Nations on nuclear fuel enrichment. We are now at January 19th and there is nothing.
The President took months to come to a decision on troop levels in Afghanistan, all the while calling the global war on terror "overseas contingency operations". The attacks at Fort Hood and the attempted downing of a plane over Detroit finally got it through to the President that we are at risk here in the United States. The administration decision to try terrorists as criminals rather than enemy combatants is yet another failing as it takes away our ability to interrogate and get the actionable intelligence they very well might possess. The trying of the five terrorists in New York is yet one more questionable decision that has been made.
State of the Union
On January 27th President Obama is going to give his State of the Union Address, and he will be hard pressed to point to any great success. He has used much of his political capital on healthcare, the stimulus as well as various endeavors such as the Olympics and the elections in New Jersey and Massachusetts. It could be a long three years for him and the country. We can only hope that he begins to take seriously the national security questions, and spend less of his time and energy on bills that the American public does not want.
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