Obama's Advantage
I think Obama has a lot of bad ideas about foreign policy, but there is perhaps one positive aspect of his Presidency, if he chooses to use it.
When he offers the olive branch to our enemies (as all American leaders do) he has a certain amount of leverage beyond his leadership of the most powerful nation on earth. He can make it clear to them they will never get a better offer, and if it all blows up in Obama's face, the America people will elect someone a lot tougher than Bush.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:25 AM
4 Comments:
Or he can largely succeed, further discrediting the "tough" approach
1) We didn't use the "tough" approach. But where we were relatively tough (where we hadn't been before), it generally succeeded. Furthermore, if you think we've been "tough," then you should know not only has Obama not disavored the tough approach, he has embraced it--he only wants to use it selectively.
2) It's possible doing what the terrorists want will work, but historically it usually leads to them only demanding more.
There is a false choice in the above argument- as if the only options are caving and doing the terrorist's bidding or blowing them to kingdom come.
"Tough" was quotes for a reason-i.e. you had used it to describe the opposite of the Obama approach
What false choice? I favor both the carrot and the stick, and does Obama, as did Bush. It's how you apply them that counts, and Obama has supported things (and is doing things) that pleases terrorists. That doesn't mean he's wrong, but it at least might make us wary.
I didn't write "tough," I wrote "tougher."
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