With all due respect, when the President of France is quicker to defend the cause of freedom than the President of the United States, it's a sad day. Welcome to the pitiful reality of Obama's brave new world.
In last week's column, I focused on President Obama's domestic agenda in illustrating the fundamental disagreements our 44th president has with our Founding Fathers and their faith in the unrelenting power of human liberty.
But if there is any area where Obama's frightening disregard for the virtues of freedom becomes even more glaring, it is in his disastrous foreign policy. In his inaugural address, the new president tipped his hand when he declared to the mad regimes of the world, "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
At the time, Obama's words appealed to many as they demonstrated a marked departure from the past. The conventional wisdom was that the eight years of George W. Bush had seen a dangerous isolation of regimes like Iran and North Korea that had made them more violent and unpredictable. Extending a hand for peaceful coexistence, it was thought, would make these countries come to their senses. But as Alexander Benard notes, "a dozen missile launches, a nuclear detonation, a rigged election, and countless crackdowns on individual liberties later, it is safe to say this effort has had the opposite of its intended effect." Without question.
But Obama is not the first American president to misjudge foreign adversaries, or to indulge the fond illusions of hope against the better senses of many more savvy than himself. He is not the first American president to learn the hard way or be forced to change course. But he is the first American president to demonstrate such a disinterest in standing up for freedom before a watching world.
It started with questionable speeches in Turkey and Cairo in which he extolled the virtues of a religion (Islam) that stands diametrically opposed to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Elevating it to an intellectual and moral equivalence with the Judeo-Christian ethic of the United States was disturbing and bizarre. Failing to condemn the atrocities and horrors committed by those who follow its plain teachings was dishonest and disconcerting.
But the utter lack of response to the courageous stand taken by thousands of repressed Iranians following the Ayatollah-rigged sham of an election was simply inexcusable. It was an embarrassment to the American people, and one for which Barack Obama owes his office, his country, and the world an apology.
When the communists were oppressing the freedom loving dissidents of the Solidarity movement in Poland back in 1982, the freedom-fighters bolstered their convictions through the knowledge that they had the support of the Americans. Why? Because the American president Ronald Reagan let them know. Declaring "Solidarity Day," he blasted the communist thugs and immediately condemned their persecution.
Years later, the leader of that Solidarity movement became president of Poland and said this: "When talking about Ronald Reagan, I have to be personal. We in Poland took him so personally. Why? Because we owe him our liberty. This can't be said often enough."
Contrast that to the image of Iranians staring into cameras begging, "Please don't leave us alone," or weeping over bleeding martyrs asking reporters, "Are we on our own?" The answer they received from the American president was stone cold silence.
Finally, after being shamed by congressional Republicans who refused to stand for his cowardly inaction and pushed through a condemnation of Iranian repression by a 405-1 vote, President Obama toughened his rhetoric. Sort of. After condemning the violence, he shockingly stated his belief that, "It's not too late" for Iran's regime to negotiate with the international community.
This was an outrage of the highest order. Not only does it suggest that the United States is willing to partner with such enemies of humanity, it horrifyingly signals to Iranian freedom-fighters President Obama's belief that they will be unsuccessful. And, that once they have been crushed into submission, the U.S. is ready to shake hands with their killers.
Given these realities perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised when President Obama rushed to the defense of Honduras' would-be dictator Zelaya, attempting to prevent his ouster by democratic forces. This is where Barack Obama has brought us: freedom loving people in Honduras taking to the streets protesting their oppression from a socialist dictator and his allies in Ortega of Nicaragua, Chavez of Venezuela, Castro of Cuba...and the President of the United States of America. Barack Obama is no friend of freedom.
