Written By : Kathleen McKinley

Pres. Obama could be the poster boy for what happens when others see you as weak. Obama imagined that bowing and scraping and using his pretty words would endear him to the world. He imagined he would show the international community how different he was from Bush with his “cowboy diplomacy.” Well, one thing Bush was never accused of was being weak.

When our President looks weak, America looks weak. When Obama made his way to Europe to seek help in Afghanistan from NATO, he got nothing. Now he looks even weaker as he dithers on what he insisted was “the necessary war.” He rejects his own General’s recommendations and flies around the world accomplishing little, while our military’s morale sinks and our boys are put in more danger.

I’m not sure how it could get worse. But Obama’s trip to China proved it could get worse. Not only did it seem that he was gushing at them, but they refused even the smallest concession asked for. The Chinese did not let him meet with human rights advocates or Chinese journalists as requested. Obama met with only who the Chinese wanted him to meet with. The tougher sanctions on Iran, climate change discussions, and flexibility by Beijing on currency exchange rates that Obama sought were ignored.

Obama spoke to 500 students in Shanghai, but as the New York Times reports, they were all members of the Communist Youth League. Chinese bloggers that the White House had tried to invite were barred from attending. The event was not broadcast live to a national audience or even mentioned on the evening newscast on state run tv. In other words, Pres. Obama’s words were kept inside that auditorium to an audience that could not care less what he had to say. The wider audience in China, who longed to hear about freedom, never heard his words or a word about it.

The Chinese did not do this with Pres. Bill Clinton or Pres. George Bush. They were allowed to address the Chinese people and answer their questions in a live broadcast.

Obama imagines that he can somehow can gain trust. But first you must lead. First you must have respect.

It doesn’t look to me there was any respect afforded Obama at all.

Where is the love that supposed to spew forth from the international community when Obama was elected? Recent polls show that the Middle East still distrust the U.S. as much as before. Does it really matter if European leaders “like” Obama on a personal level more than Bush, if that doesn’t translate into respect and cooperation? No. It doesn’t matter.

This is what happens when we look weak. But it’s much worse than being “embarrassed” by Pres. Obama. Weakness in a President represents danger to the American people.

In his book “In The Words of Our Enemies” by Jed Babbin, he chronicles some of the interviews Osama bin Laden(and other radical leaders) gave to Arabic newspapers before 9-11. The main thing that struck me in this book is that our enemies thrive on our weaknesses. And they see that the fact that we value our own lives as weak.

In an interview published in a London newspaper five years before 9-11, Osama talked about how disgraceful Somalia was for us. He said we moved in tens of thousands of soldiers and then he said this:

“However when…(many) of your soldiers were killed in minor battles and one American pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadish, you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat, and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of you impotence and weaknessses became very clear”

It’s clear that these madmen see our weakness as “Allah’s will.” It explains our weakness. But when we win, when we fight back, then that explanation evaporates.

That is why with Pres. Bush we were never considered a “paper tiger.” Bush didn’t “threaten and promise revenge” and then do nothing. We went to the Middle East and we killed those who attacked us. We were not “disgraced by Allah.”

It is in strength we prevailed and were kept safe.

I don’t feel so safe anymore.

Pres. Obama promises “consequences” to Iran if they don’t comply on their nuclear program, but if there are never any real consequences, then “Allah” wins once more. Is there anyone reading this that expects there to be tough consequences to Iran? Yeah, I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.

The longer Pres. Obama waffles on Afghanistan and ignores Iran, the weaker we look. This is no time for that. More than anything else, Pres. Obama needs to show strength and resolve. I pray he has it in him to do so. If not, then we will be in danger once again.

crossposted at Rightwingsparkle

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