Ryan Slams Obama for 'Weak" Foreign Policy

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Sept 15, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

                 Slipping in the polls, 42-year-old GOP VP nominee House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) slammed President Barack Obama for a weak foreign policy giving rise to the anti-American protests in the Arab world.  When al-Qaeda-based Libyan terrorists hit the U.S. consulate with rocket propelled grenades Sept. 12, killing 52-year-old Amb. Chris Stevens and three other U.S. personnel in Benghazi, GOP presidential nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ripped the White House for showing weakness.  Romney had harsh words for Barack because of the U.S. Egyptian Embassy’s response to violence before knowing anything about Steven’s death.  Neither Romney nor Ryan have much foreign policy experience but seek urgent political traction to stop Obama’s steady rise in the polls before the first presidential debate Oct. 3 at the University of Denver.

            Ryan, the number-crunching House Budget Committee Chairman, knows little about foreign policy but seeks to tie Obama’s foreign policy to violent protests against U.S. embassies around the Middle East.  “If we project weakness, they come,” said Ryan, referring to protests erupting in the Muslim world over a Youtube video called “The Innocence of Muslims” by a nefarious anti-Islamic convicted felon Nakoula Basseley AKA Sam Basile.  When the video went viral on Youtube last week, it prompted rioting by Islamic groups in Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, pushing U.S. authorities to investigate Basseley.  Google Inc., the parent company of Youtube, refused to remove the video, citing compliance with Google’s content standards.  Because of the ongoing rioting by various Islamic groups, the White House asked Google to remove the video.

           Citing U.S. Free Speech rights under the First Amendment, Google saw no reason to yank the video from Youtube, though it did block 55-year-old Nakoula’s video from India and Indonesia.  “We are passionate about our users so we try to take into account local cultures and needs—which vary dramatically around the world—when developing and implementing our global product policies,” said Rachel Whetstone, Google’s VP of communication and public policy.  When a Danish newspaper published some controversial cartoons about the prophet Mohammed Aug. 7, 2006, rioting broke out around the Middle East.  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the recent video “disgusting,” portraying the prophet Mohammed as a womanizing pedophile.  At the same time, she denounced in the strongest possible terms the death of Amb. Stevens and three other U.S. citizens.   

          Pointing fingers as Nakoula’s Youtube video distorts the real reason behind Islamic rioting in the Middle East.  Al-Qaeda’s Yemen-based cell retaliated for the May 1, 2011 death of Osama bin Laden, Sept. 30, 2011 death of American-born terrorist Yemen’s Anwar al-Alawaki and Sept. 10 death of Yemen’s No. 2 al-Qaeda operative Saeed al-Shahiri.  While the White House and media focus on the Youtube video, the tit-for-tat killing with al-Qaeda rages on. Terrorist experts expected retaliation after Bin Laden and al-Alawki’s deaths.  Blaming it on Obama’s “weak” foreign policy shows how little Romney and Ryan know about Mideast terrorism.  When Ryan talks about looking “strong” he’s talking about bombing or starting wars in Syria or Iran.  Obama fulfilled his campaign promise to end the Iraq War costing the U.S. 4,886 U.S. lives and over $1 trillion from the U.S. Treasury.

          Neither Romney nor Ryan won’t say what’s been weak about Barack’s foreign policy.  They’re both calling Obama “weak” because of current rioting around the Middle East.  They both know that no president can control when extremists around the globe lash out.  Starting more preemptive wars won’t fix the Middle East, nor will it help the struggling U.S. economy.  “Look, we turn on the TV and we see what’s going on,” said Ryan, referring to rioting in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere.  Ryan forgets that former President George W. Bush showed the same kind of bravado, telling Saddam Hussein July 30, 2003 to “bring ‘em on.”  Nine years later, with 4,886 U.S. war dead and thousands more permanently disabled, Bush found out the hard way what happens when presidents talk tough.  Ryan now talks, like Bush, of “peace through strength,” at the expense of the military and U.S. Treasury.

           Taking more time than he promised, Obama finally ended the Iraq War and now sees light at the end of the tunnel in Afghanistan.  Before Ryan jumps the gun, he must learn from history what happens when the U.S. engages in preemptive war.  When President Ronald Reagan dealt with the Marine barracks truck bombing killing 241 soldiers in Lebanon Oct. 23, 1983, he wasn’t blamed by Democrats for a “weak” foreign policy.  Ryan’s shoot-from-the-hip foreign policy shows how little the Romney team knows about terrorism and foreign policy.  “If there is one thing that this reminds me it is that peace through strength works . . . “ said Ryan, blasting Obama for expected cuts in the U.S. defense budget.  There’s nothing “strong” or “heroic” about starting new Middle East wars.  Obama correctly understands the necessity of showing restraint when it comes to using the U.S. military.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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