Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney (the one who started a family feud with her lesbian sister, only to drop out of the Senate race in Wyoming) have an op-ed in tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal on President Obama’s foreign policy, so prepare to experience Cheneyism in its most concentrated form. They present a relentlessly bleak portrait of America’s place in the world today, and suggest it’s almost entirely Obama’s fault. The second paragraph starts out: “Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many.” Specifically, they claim that Obama was a fool to end the war in Iraq, and say his actions there — both before and after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) overtook several cities last week — are increasing the terrorist threat against the United States. Unsurprisingly, there’s no mention of whose stupid idea it was to go into Iraq in the first place.
According to the Cheneys, the unnamed president who preceded Obama left the Middle East in pretty good shape:
When Mr. Obama and his team came into office in 2009, al Qaeda in Iraq had been largely defeated, thanks primarily to the heroic efforts of U.S. armed forces during the surge. Mr. Obama had only to negotiate an agreement to leave behind some residual American forces, training and intelligence capabilities to help secure the peace. Instead, he abandoned Iraq and we are watching American defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.
So why did Obama screw everything up? For starters, he’s so preoccupied with wussy issues like global warming that he didn’t realize Al Qaeda is still a threat:
Iraq is at risk of falling to a radical Islamic terror group and Mr. Obama is talking climate change. Terrorists take control of more territory and resources than ever before in history, and he goes golfing. He seems blithely unaware, or indifferent to the fact, that a resurgent al Qaeda presents a clear and present danger to the United States of America.
But Obama isn’t just oblivious; he’s actually “willfully blind to the impact of his policies.” It almost seems like he’s purposely trying to destroy America!
Despite clear evidence of the dire need for American leadership around the world, the desperation of our allies and the glee of our enemies, President Obama seems determined to leave office ensuring he has taken America down a notch. Indeed, the speed of the terrorists’ takeover of territory in Iraq has been matched only by the speed of American decline on his watch.
The Cheneys end the piece by listing all the conservative foreign policy complaints they can think of, writing, “American freedom will not be secured by empty threats, meaningless red lines, leading from behind, appeasing our enemies, abandoning our allies, or apologizing for our great nation—all hallmarks to date of the Obama doctrine.” And naturally, they conclude with a Reagan quote:
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan said, “If history teaches anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.” President Obama is on track to securing his legacy as the man who betrayed our past and squandered our freedom.
If you come across a paper copy of The Wall Street Journal tomorrow, be sure to save it for your conservative friends. They’re going to want to cut this one out and stick on the refrigerator.
