Foreign Policy

The United States has not won a war since 1945. We have been involved in numerous conflicts and our military has performed magnificently — considering the political interference and (mis)direction endured.  This interference has caused us to lose (as in the case of Vietnam) or come to a draw (as in the case of Korea) or had victories given away (as we are now witnessing in Iraq). We are following the same formula of failure in Afghanistan. Never in the past 66 years have we come to the political point where we could claim the capitulation of an enemy.  The result of this has been an erosion of international respect that has negatively affected our ability to use international coalitions or the threat of military action as effective suasion.

Where is Afghanistan policy headed at this crucial moment? As the nation's excellent if unsung war commander, Gen. John Allen, testifies on Capitol Hill this week, and as Republican presidential aspirants continue to attack President Barack Obama from both the left and the right on the subject, these questions are especially timely. Will the president soon be tempted to say that with Osama bin Laden dead (on the positive side), but with the Afghan and Pakistani governments still very hard to work with and the insurgency still resilient (on the negative side)

Mitt Romney appears to have all the foreign-policy savvy of someone who once visited Euro Disney, and it's freaking me out. Not to say that President Barack Obama is any more knowledgeable on that front, but at least he seems aware of his limitations, outsourcing foreign leadership to the French, the Brits, Hillary Clinton and private contractors. Never has the world been so interconnected, with power and influence becoming decentralized and regionalized. America's problems -- economic or otherwise -- can no longer be solved from inside America, nor can conventional wisdom and the traditional order of things be predictably relied upon.

The muted communication from a spokesperson for the Navy's Fifth Fleet that it won't tolerate an Iranian attempt to close to Strait of Hormuz and shut off much of the world's oil supply is not an adequate response to the threat. It comes off as another sign of an apathetic, apologetic U.S. foreign policy ("Iran warns U.S. over Strait of Hormuz," Dec. 29). Why does it always seem that President Obama is out of town when we need him? We see him getting ice cream with his family, which is very touching.

The news media's lack of analysis regarding the policy proposals of the leading presidential candidates is disheartening. The media have relinquished their responsibilities to inform the public; instead, they have become entertainment impresarios, hailing the masses to the big top to see the bearded lady and the fat man. I don't see an ounce of intelligent coverage out there. The public doesn't really need analysis of President Obama's 2012 platform. He is in power now, and whatever the public is getting from him now, it will get for four more years.

And so it ends. The United States is leaving Iraq. I'm solidly in the camp that sees this as a strategic blunder. Iraqi democracy is fragile and Iran's desire to undermine it is strong. Also, announcing our withdrawal is a weird way to respond to a foiled Iranian plot to commit an act of war in the U.S. capital. Obviously, I hope I'm wrong and President Obama's not frittering away our enormous sacrifices in Iraq out of domestic political concerns and diplomatic ineptitude. Still, there's an upside.

It seems that Michele Bachmann's husband, Marcus, and his counseling clinics are the new favorite punch line for political comedians.  With his "pray the gay away" therapy tactics under scrutiny, Marcus Bachmann has been lampooned all week on Comedy Central. Most of the jokes have centered on comedians' belief that Bachmann himself is secretly gay and therefore a hypocrite.  The Second City Network has joined this line of humor with the below video. In it, the Bachmanns are repulsed to even kiss each other and Marcus breaks out dancing in flashy red underwear.  (Bachmann, for his part, is denying his counseling methods are "anti-gay" and says an interview in which he compares homosexuals to "barbarians" was "doctored," ABC is reporting.

Influential Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco recently had some harsh words for President Barack Obama, which is no surprise for anyone who follows his music. Lupe's been critical of Obama in the past, but he took it a step further when he called Obama "the biggest terrorist" in America in an interview with CBS News.  “In my fight against terrorism, to me, the biggest terrorist is Obama in the United States of America," he said. "For me, I’m trying to fight the terrorism that’s actually causing the other forms of terrorism.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), a GOP presidential candidate, was on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, and, as usual, the congressman skewered at least one sacred cow of American politics.  Paul's target this time? The notion that Republicans and Democrats are diametrically opposed political parties. You know, the idea that they're bitter political opponents. They fight over everything. They hate each other.  But the truth is, Paul said, they're the same party.  "We don’t have a good democratic process," Paul said.

Is there anyone out there who can clear my head on our country's foreign policy in the Middle East? We're after Gadhafi. He's a bad dictator — bomb his country, strafe his troops. We seem to be on the side of the "rebels. " How're we doin' there? We got a plan? So what's the deal in Yemen? Isn't their dictator whatshisname killing his subjects too? Oh, wait! Their government is helpful to Washington, right? And howzabout Bahrain? Didn't their dictator kill some of his folks too?