Speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today, President Barack Obama revealed the real reason former Democratic nominee Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lost the election. Obama urged President-Elect Donald Trump to confront Russia with “values and international norms,” a buzzword for his abysmal foreign policy failure. With U.S.-Russian relations at Cold War lows, Obama continues his failed policy blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for all the world’s ills, especially those in Crimea and Southeastern Ukraine. Obama’s foreign and domestic policy failures, especially poor U.S.-Russian relations and the ongoing Obamacare trainwreck, weighed heavily on voters decision to opt for change in 2016. Obama wants to put the blame on Hillary but his negative coattails didn’t help Hillary’s fortunes.
Nowhere in U.S. foreign policy has Obama failed more than his relationship to the Kremlin. Seventy-years of détente since WWII was transformed by Obama into the most adversarial relationship with Russia since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Warning Trump to not “cut some deals” with Putin, Obama demonstrates his utter failure in foreign policy. Instead of restraining criticism until leaving office Jan. 20, 2017, Obama exposes his sour grapes now that voters rejected his “legacy.” U.S. relations with Russia deteriorated more when Putin decided Sept. 30, 2015 to start air strikes to support the Shiite government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Since 2011, Obama’s spent his political capital funding-and-arming terror groups to topple al-Assad’s regime. Putin’s decision to defend al-Assad pitted the U.S. directly against Russia, potentially leading to military confrontation.
Obama’s in no position to give advice since Trump ran on a platform to end U.S. involvement in Mideast wars. When you consider 300,000 Syrian deaths since the Saudi-funded Arab Spring March 15, 2011 tried to topple al-Assad’s regime, more that 12 million displaced to neighboring countries and Europe, Obama’s disastrous Syrian policy spread only death, destruction and terrorism in the Middle East. Trump’s attempt to reset relations with Russia, precisely addresses the No. 1 threat to U.S. national security: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. Trump wants to leave al-Assad in place and focus joint efforts with Russia to destroy ISIS. Obama’s approach of backing the Saudi proxy war would continue the death, destruction and terrorism indefinitely. Trump’s approach to resetting relations with Russia involves cutting off funding-and-arms to Saudi-U.S. terror groups in Syria.
Thumping his chest in Germany, Obama acts more like a European Union member than president of the United Sates. Warning Trump to follow “international norms” in dealing with Putin, Obama revealed key differences with Trump. Trump emphasized through the campaign that he would take an American-first foreign policy, meaning he wouldn’t pander to the U.N. or EU when it comes to trade deals and international agreements. Obama urges Trump for follow democratic values but Obama knows that he’s backed terror groups he calls “opposition” forces to topple a U.N.-member sovereign government. Hinting that Trump would cut practical deals with Putin, Obama can only lament his failed policy. Merkel’s likely successor, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeir, warned Oct. 10 that Obama and Hillary’s approach in Syria could lead to WWIII.
Telling Merkel he was “cautiously optimistic” about Trump, Obama did the U.S. a disservice sowing more anxiety and disunity into global politics. Instead of prognosticating about what Trump would do or wouldn’t do, Obama should have said the American public voted to take the country in a different direction While Hillary likes to blame FBI Director James Comey for her defeat or, more recently, Obama likes to blame Hillary for not going after enough white working class voters, the painful truth for Obama is that voters rejected his third term for Hillary. When former Vice President Al Gore lost the Electoral College but won the popular vote to President George W. Bush in 2000, it was largely due to “Clinton fatigue.” No doubt “Obama fatigue” sank Hillary’s chances in 2016. Obama campaigned his heart out for Hillary but voters rejected his arguments and sales job.
Obama’s final European tour is more about saving face than telling the truth about the U.S. election. American voters rejected Obama’s foreign and domestic policy. Instead of admitting his failures with Russia and in Syria, Obama cast Trump as trying to cut “pragmatic” deals at the expense of U.S. values. Funding-and-arming Saudi-backed terror groups to topple a sovereign government in Syria hardly reflect American values. Sinking U.S.-Russian relations to Cold War lows, Obama proved his incompetence in managing U.S. national security. Abandoning 70 years of linkage in U.S. foreign policy, Obama put the U.S. dangerously close to military confrontation with Russia. Criticizing Trump for resetting U.S.-Russian relations shows just how devious Obama is in salvaging his failed foreign policy legacy. Instead of lecturing Trump, Obama should be calming and reassuring U.S. allies.
