US President Barack Obama meeting with members of his national security team to discuss the situation in Egypt in the Situation Room of the White House in Washington (White House Photo, Pete Souza)
Global Crises Put Obama’s Strategy Of Caution To The Test -- David E. Sanger, New York Times
WASHINGTON — For five years, President Obama has consciously recast how America engages with the world’s toughest customers. But with Russia poised to annex Crimea after Sunday’s referendum, with a mounting threat to the rest of Ukraine and with the carnage in Syria accelerating, Mr. Obama’s strategy is now under greater stress than at any time in his presidency.
In his first term, the White House described its approach as the “light footprint”: “Dumb wars” of occupation — how Mr. Obama once termed Iraq — were out. Drone strikes, cyberattacks and Special Operations raids that made use of America’s technological superiority were the new, quick-and-dirty expression of military and covert power. When he did agree to have American forces join the bombing of Libya in 2011, Mr. Obama insisted that NATO and Arab states “put skin in the game,” a phrase he vastly prefers to “leading from behind.”
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My Comment: President Obama does not want his legacy to be defined by getting involved in a major new war .... instead .... he wants to be remembered for getting U.S. troops out of prolong and stalemated conflicts. There has been an exception to this rule .... sending special ops/CIA teams/developing military alliances/etc. .... because these commitments are low intensity and low key .... they have become an integral part of his national security policy .... and in my opinion it has worked. But in the big conflicts and crisis situations (Syria/Ukraine/Iran's nuclear program/North Korea/etc.) .... U.S. effectiveness has been ineffective, and in some cases only aggravating a situation into some worse .... Ukraine being the prime example of this.
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