THE OBAMA DOCTRINE
HUGGING FOES, HURTING FRIENDS


By RALPH PETERS


Last updated: 1:37 am
April 29, 2009
NYPost
Excerpt:


AFTER a mere 100 days, the "Obama Doctrine" for our foreign and  
security poli cies has emerged. And it's terrifying.


The combination of dizzying naivete, dislike of our allies, disdain  
for our military, distrust of our intelligence services and distaste  
for our own country promises the worst foreign policy of our lifetimes.


That includes President Jimmy Carter's abysmal record of failure.


The core tenets of the Obama Doctrine to date would make a charter  
member of the Weather Underground cheer:


We're to blame. If there are problems anywhere, they're America's  
fault. This central conviction of leftist ideology appears to have  
soaked so thoroughly into our president's consciousness during his  
lengthy friendships with extremists that it's now second nature to him.


Problems can be negotiated away. From Somali pirates to Moscow's  
belligerency, Obama and his Cabinet see a good chat as the best  
response to a challenge. Our president got to the Oval Office by  
talking, not doing, and his faith in his powers of persuasion is  
unlimited.


An acquaintance who may have our government's best grasp of the  
Russians shakes his head at the tone in Washington. The current  
mantra: "We have to get over our Cold War thinking." Great -- except  
that it's the Russians who've revived Cold War hostility.


The Taliban devours Pakistan, and we want to talk. President Hugo  
Chavez destroys Venezuela's democracy, and we want to talk. Iran  
pursues nuclear weapons with refreshed enthusiasm . . . and we want  
to talk.


Problems that can't be talked out can be bought off. Pakistan, a nuke- armed state of 170 million Muslims seething with anti-Americanism  
stirred up by our "friends," faces a crack-up as its once-monolithic  
military splinters. Obama's answer? Send billions of dollars that  
will disappear and weapons that may soon be used against our troops.


Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thinks the solution to piracy is a  
generous program to rebuild Somalia. (Been there, done that.) She'd  
also like to hand Hamas a billion bucks.


The "Las Vegas law" applies: You can buy sex but not enduring love.  
We can't defeat terror with welfare checks.