Did The Democrats Criticize President Bush For Pursuing Such A Foreign Policy?

Obama's Middle East Goal: Tie US Policy Closer To American Values -- Christian Science Monitor

Obama's insistence that US policy in the Middle East support, rather than thwart, popular yearnings for self-rule is a warning to autocrats in the region – and marks an 'update' since his Cairo speech.

Five months into the Arab Spring, President Obama is honing his Middle East strategy with an update to the “new beginning” he proposed for US-Arab relations nearly two years ago in Cairo.

Among the points the president is underscoring: Patience with tyrants is running short – even in cases, like Syria, where fear of an unknown alternative has moderated diplomatic pressures. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not isolated from the changes sweeping the region but demands a solution all the more because of it. And political actors in the new Middle East will be judged more on their actions than on affiliations and past positions.

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My Comment: One thing that I liked about President Obama when he was running for President was his vowed commitment to pursue a foreign policy that would be rooted first in American priorities and interests. After a few years .... it appears that this approach is changing, with a U.S. policy now advocating human rights, democracy, and (I guess) the pursuit of justice. This liberal and moral approach is admirable .... but I know that it will hit the wall of reality in many of the world's conflicts .... and in the end it will fail .... again. My only worry is that usually the road to hell is paved with good intentions .... and I can only hope that we are not going down this road in places like the Middle East, Afghanistan, and any other conflict zone.

Obama's Troubling Instincts -- A Commentary

From The Wall Street Journal:

Barack Obama is ambling rather than sprinting across the primary-season finish line. It's not just his failure to connect with blue-collar Democrats. He has added to his problems with ill-informed replies on critical foreign policy questions.

On Sunday at a stop in Oregon, Sen. Obama was dismissive of the threats posed by Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba and Syria. That's the same Iran whose Quds Force is arming and training insurgents and illegal militias in Iraq to kill American soldiers; that is supporting Hezbollah and Hamas in violent attacks on Lebanon and Israel; and that is racing to develop a nuclear weapon while threatening the "annihilation" of Israel.

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My Comment: I am of the opinion that U.S. power will become less of an influence for peace in the coming years. The reason for this is not because of American decline, but more of other countries .... Russia, China, India, Brazil, and Europe .... reasserting their traditional and historical role of being the superpower .... or at least the regional superpower.

As the rest of the world catches up to our standard of living, technological development, and economic/social status .... their sheer numbers and population size will make them the major players in their respective regions. Political and economic conflicts, bad or aggressive leaders, nationalism, religious differences and aggressive religions (Islam) .... these historical facts of life that have brought wars in the past will still be there. To keep these "forces" in check, the U.S. (as it has in the past) has and will play the moderator, the "middle man", the side that can tilt the balance in any disagreement.

For the past 60 years one of the U.S.'s strengths has been this commitment to "real politic" or what is commonly known as "political realism" .... a belief that states are primarily motivated by the desire for military and economic power or security, rather than ideals or ethics. To now have a major Presidential candidate put forward a sequence of events that will abdicate this traditional U.S. foreign policy opens a number of precedents that in turn will put into question America's traditional role in the international arena.

Will this new policy bring us peace .... or bring more war? I have yet to feel comfortable that negotiating with countries such as Iran, North Korea, and who knows who else ..... without preconditions ...... will somehow bring about peace. Karl Rove is right ..... historically ..... the best agreements that brought about peace never went down the road that Presidential candidate Obama is now suggesting.