Obama, however, is not a pure realist. Obama seems willing enough to abandon the younger Bush's nation-building quagmire in Iraq. But instead of doing the same in Afghanistan, withdrawing U.S. troops from that country, and using intelligence, law enforcement, and maybe an occasional Special Forces raid to go after al Qaeda in Pakistan, Obama has elected to escalate the military social work in Afghanistan. This strand of Obama's thinking more resembles the idealistic muscular liberalism of Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton.
Interesting...
Considering that the Taliban and Al Queda tend to gather wherever we (or the Afghan Army, etc) is not, how do we get adequate coverage without adding more troops/resources? One way might be to expand the cellular network throughout the country so that the locals can "drop a dime" on the Taliban/Ql Queda when they come into the area, as it has been reported that the locals will often call the police (or local goverment, etc) who comes in and flushes them out.
History has proven that realism in foreign policy is vital to success. The idealists are always nice to have around, and this isn't to say that they wouldn't have useful ideas on how best to proceed - but these ideas need to be tempered so as to not compromise the fundamental goals and long term interests of this nation.
This guy is a tool. All along I thought Obama was the idealist- saying the economy is going to turn around if the government will take over the banks, takeover the insurance companies, take over the car dealerships, etc. The economy will be better if we insert a fake stimulus into the economy by funding meaningless projects that take 2 years to go into effect and end up being projects that were purposely not funded in the first place (they were wasteful)....And maybe if we simply talk to Iran they will give up on the idea of wiping Israel off the face of the earth- as if Iran's policy to destroy Israel was lighthearted and random as opposed to intentional, purposeful, sincere, and full of hate. Also, we will let North Korea fire a missile over Hawaii because they just want some more food money...
But don't call that idealism...(more like wishful thinking, daydreaming, irresponsible lunacy) ...No, call Obama a realist!
Eland tries to compare PBHO to HW? He fails to mention that HW's experience in the CIA helped him for "realist" ideas. Some, by the way, were flawed.
Teddy wasn't "messianic" about democratization, he was about expanding the US power. Teddy was also one of the first progressives like Wilson.
Foreign policy to protect our internal republic? I just wish our own government would protect our own constitutional republic.
Restrained foreign policy of PBHO? What about his stance on Honduras. He admonishes the people of Honduras for their noble actions in defending their constitution and legal system when they took their president out of power when he attempted to run past his term limits.
I'm still trying to figure out PBHO. I guess it will be an interesting term.
The Left is portraying Obama as "following the footsteps of George W. Bush" to evade the damning evidence that will prove that he is a Cuban agent of influence. How can Naomi Klein, who used to be a constant visitor of Fidel Castro who surely is oggling at her naked body in hidden hotel cameras, be an ardent anti-Obama when Obama is an anti-corporate activist like her. The damning evidence of "NUESTRO OBAMA" imparted by a tripled agent of Cuban intel. As WE has always been telling me, We cannot Operate Without you, kipfer."-WE
"To all Cuban, Vietnamese boat people, YOU DESERVE THIS HAPPY CANADA DAY. Not our COMMIES"-W.E.
