September 13, 2012 4:43 PM
Mr. President, if Egypt's not an ally, what is it?
The evolving situation in the Middle East has at least raised the possibility that the election contest will see a more in-depth discussion of President Obama's foreign policy decisions than "Hey, Osama bin Laden is dead." That's bad news for the President, because his instincts are all wrong when it comes to advancing America's interests around the world.
Look no further than Obama's statement yesterday on Egypt. "I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy," he told a Telemundo interviewer. The President was, once again, voting "present" on a crucial issue. Relegating the country to a gray area where it is sometimes treated as an ally and sometimes treated as an enemy encourages bad behavior. It sends a signal that the United States will continue to give billions of dollars in foreign aid to potentially hostile governments with no expectation that they will in return support American interests.
Foreign policy experts were shocked that Obama would so casually toss aside one of our only allies in the Middle East, especially in light of his prior support for the Arab Spring. Last year, Obama called for the ouster of the generally pro-Western former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, and then insisted that Egypt hold elections. Egypt's new government, which is dominated by the anti-Western Muslim Brotherhood, is the result. A reasonable question therefore occurs: Does Obama still support the Arab Spring? He hasn't said and no member of the media has asked.
Gov. Romney yesterday accused the President of sending "mixed signals" to our allies. He was absolutely right. To come this far and then to decline to call Egypt an ally gives the new Egyptian government an additional excuse to turn against us and our regional interests (read: Israel). Once again, Obama unleashed something without any desire or ability to control it, and we are stuck with the consequences.
Indeed, the White House was busy today cleaning up the President's mess. A White House spokesman said that Obama didn't intend to suggest that Egypt has lost its long-standing ally status. Unnamed administration sources told Foreign Policy's The Cable blog that the Telemundo interviewer's question had not been anticipated and Obama's off-the-cuff answer had not been prepared in advance by staff. In other words and to borrow a phrase, Obama was shooting first and aiming later.
Mr. President, if Egypt's not an ally, what is it?
The evolving situation in the Middle East has at least raised the possibility that the election contest will see a more in-depth discussion of President Obama's foreign policy decisions than "Hey, Osama bin Laden is dead." That's bad news for the President, because his instincts are all wrong when it comes to advancing America's interests around the world.
Look no further than Obama's statement yesterday on Egypt. "I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy," he told a Telemundo interviewer. The President was, once again, voting "present" on a crucial issue. Relegating the country to a gray area where it is sometimes treated as an ally and sometimes treated as an enemy encourages bad behavior. It sends a signal that the United States will continue to give billions of dollars in foreign aid to potentially hostile governments with no expectation that they will in return support American interests.
Foreign policy experts were shocked that Obama would so casually toss aside one of our only allies in the Middle East, especially in light of his prior support for the Arab Spring. Last year, Obama called for the ouster of the generally pro-Western former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, and then insisted that Egypt hold elections. Egypt's new government, which is dominated by the anti-Western Muslim Brotherhood, is the result. A reasonable question therefore occurs: Does Obama still support the Arab Spring? He hasn't said and no member of the media has asked.
Gov. Romney yesterday accused the President of sending "mixed signals" to our allies. He was absolutely right. To come this far and then to decline to call Egypt an ally gives the new Egyptian government an additional excuse to turn against us and our regional interests (read: Israel). Once again, Obama unleashed something without any desire or ability to control it, and we are stuck with the consequences.
Indeed, the White House was busy today cleaning up the President's mess. A White House spokesman said that Obama didn't intend to suggest that Egypt has lost its long-standing ally status. Unnamed administration sources told Foreign Policy's The Cable blog that the Telemundo interviewer's question had not been anticipated and Obama's off-the-cuff answer had not been prepared in advance by staff. In other words and to borrow a phrase, Obama was shooting first and aiming later.
