The Charm Offensive

You can’t blame the guy for doing what he said he would do.  During the campaign, then Sen. Barak Obama stated that he would have high level talks with foreign leaders—even those that we are diametrically opposed with.

And he’s doing just that.

In an attempt to win favor in the world community, President Obama has bowed before the King of Saudi Arabia, shook hands with Chavez, and has made overtures to Cuba.

So far it has just been smiles and handshakes, but where is this going?

Appropriate Action?

Some would argue that, as leader of the free world, President Obama should not show the deference and familiarity with these foreign leaders of oppressive regimes.  Their arguments carry some merit—President Obama is more than just a friendly guy, he’s the President of the United States.  He is the leader of a country that helps free people from oppressive regimes.  His country boasts of freedom of thought and deed whereas these places that he is making nice with use torture and oppression.

As Long As It’s Just a Smile

I don’t have a problem with a warm greeting, as long as there are teeth behind that grin.  If people do not hear our President saying that certain actions are right and wrong—if all he does is attempt to get people to like us by being nice and never making the hard statements or calls—people will believe that we are weak.

President Bush, whether you approve of his policies or not, was able to get Lybia in line because he was a man of his word—seemingly unafraid to call out those countries that were enemies of liberty and because he kept his word about what he would do, other countries respected the power of the United States.

If all we aren’t serious about what we’re doing in trying to help liberate countries, we should get out of the business of doing it—otherwise we seem weirdly contradictory.