U.S. looking weak

When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, he sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Russia as one of his first foreign policy initiatives. We were about to place a missile defense system in Poland to protect against terrorist threats, and she hit the “reset button” to signal a new age of cooperation with Russia. The missile defense project in Poland was canceled.

Toward the end of the President George W. Bush administration, Russia unilaterally invaded Georgia and grabbed a share of its territory called Ossetia without any recourse from the West while Georgia begged for help. Since then, we have a foreign policy rooted in complete weakness: line in the sand in Syria, Benghazi, timetable for chemical weapons removal from Syria. Remember the “serious consequences” of not meeting the deadlines? Have any been met?

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announces huge military cuts, and Russia invades Ukraine. China is flexing its muscles in the South China Sea, and again we do nothing. If I was an ally of the Obama administration, I would run and hide. Russia and China are on the rise, and Hagel said it best: We cannot believe that America can dominate the air, sea and ground anymore. Great morale builder, Chuck.

Steve Hintyesz

Spokane