Santorum Slams Obama On Foreign Policy

By Anna Cameron

At an appearance at the National Press Club Thursday, Former Sen. Rick Santorum chastised President Barack Obama based on the administration’s approach to foreign policy since his inauguration in 2009.

“A president who doesn’t understand the greatness of the American experiment cannot confidently advance her interests,” said Santorum of Obama. “If he will not or cannot lead, who around the world will follow?”

Referencing American values and mission from a historical standpoint, Santorum explained what he believes to be Obama’s aversion to the idea of American exceptionalism, which he believes has adversely affected American foreign policy

“Today we have lost this mission because our president doesn’t believe in it,” Santorum said. “He was asked point blank whether he believed in American exceptionalism and his answer was people of every culture think they are exceptional. When he speaks of the greatness of our country, he ties it to our modern social welfare programs. And when he confronts other countries on their human rights abuses…he does so pointing out we, too, have problems to apologize for…”

Turning to the current implications across the Middle East, as well as the mounting threat of what he referred to as ‘jihadism’, both domestically and abroad, Santorum noted the confusion and doubt the President has caused in the hearts and minds of the American people, and the international community.

“We have caused two very dangerous things on the world stage: confusion and doubt,” he said. “We now have a confused foreign policy in the hottest spots in the world: especially in the Middle East, and we have allies and freedom fighters all over the world who doubt our time tested and time honored commitments to them.”

In addressing his various concerns, Santorum introduced a 10 point plan that he believes will lead the nation to a better foreign policy. The plan places emphasis on reestablishing the American worldview to be more realistic, standing by Israel, redefining enemies and their respective ideologies, and better promoting the American “core values of freedom, equality, and democracy.”

“I am an optimist about America’s potential to again lead the world, and I don’t mean leading from behind,” said Santorum. “Be reclaiming our legacy of liberty I know we can make ourselves more secure and help the rest of the world become more stable and free.”

Eurasia Task Force Concludes U.S.-Central Asia Relations Need Rebalancing

By Rob Sanna- Talk Radio News

U.S. relations with Central Asia can be improved by inviting local leaders to Washington, making strong statements demonstrating U.S support, and supporting border security to prevent terrorists and extremists from entering new democracies and the spread of illicit material, according to a new report from the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Task Force.

“It is a region that presents tremendous opportunity for democracy, security, energy production, for cooperation,” Chuck Hagel, a former Republican Senator from Nebraska and current chairman of the Council, said during a discussion on the report Monday.

Former Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan Ross Wilson, who joined Hagel, noted that the United States has a history of providing aid for countries in central Asia because many of them were formed when the Soviet Union fell and they were very unstable.

Today, he argues, the United States are in a similar position except now the primary concern is ensuring that these new democracies are protected against terrorism, narcotics, and other destabilizing factors overflowing from Afghanistan.

Ross also pointed out that during the nineties, the region received plenty of personal and active diplomacy that involved high profile policy makers from the United States getting involved with the issues in the various new countries.

More recently, the dialogue has primarily been coming from the U.S. Military asking for basing, overflight rights, and other support while the civilian government demands democratic measures be put in place.

Ross argues that this policy has created an impression with local leaders that the U.S. only has its own interests in mind and not the interests of the region.

McCain Urges Quick Action On Plan For More Troops In Afghanistan

By Julianne LaJeunesse - University of New Mexico

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) spoke Tuesday about American international policies in a conference hosted by the Foreign Policy Initiative, an organization that rejects U.S. policies "that would lead us down the path of isolation."

During a speech entitled, "Advancing and Defending Democracy," McCain said that President Obama is admirable for keeping his composure during intensifying U.S. international commitments, but added that he disagreed with the President's recent decision to scrap its plans for a European missile defense shield. Said McCain, America should maintain loyalties to people and plans.

When asked by moderator and Foreign Policy Initiative Founder Bob Kagan about the time it's taking to implement a military plan in Afghanistan, McCain said the longer it takes to get troops there, the more strapped the plan becomes.

"You make a decision to do something, for example, to deploy troops... it takes a period of time before you get them over there," McCain said. "It's not a matter of just putting them on a plane and flying them over. There's all of the equipment, all of the preparations, all of the things necessary for deployment of troops. So even if the President made the decision tomorrow, there would be a period of time where we still don't have sufficient troops to do what's necessary there."

McCain said troops in Afghanistan are necessary because "at least some of Americans may have forgotten that it was Afghanistan where Al Qaeda really received the training in order to orchestrate the attacks on United States of America on 9/11."

The senator said that America's sympathy for troop deployment in Aghanistan is waning and that Obama may have to follow previous leaders who have "gone against the majority of public opinion, either in their party or the country, because they were in times of crisis and they knew that they had to take certain actions."

McCain also commented on the Obama administration's recent system technology change from a planned "antiballistic missile shield" to a smaller SM-3 interceptor system in the Czech Republic and Poland, which he said was "technically correct," but added that "the handling of this issue is very harmful."

No Apologies Necessary: Obama's Upcoming Overseas Tour

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News Service

While President Obama is scheduled to travel next week to Egypt, Germany and France, his administration has not found its foreign policy footing, according to analysts at the Heritage Foundation.

“This trip next week is going to be watched very closely all over Europe, all across the world,” said Nile Gardner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, “Every statement he makes will be scrutinized very carefully to see whether he is seeking to further atone for America’s past, which I think would be disastrous for the President to do so. The fact is that President Obama is increasingly being viewed as a soft touch on the world stage.”

On the President’s last visit to Europe he discussed American arrogance and Gardner believes it was a “huge strategic error in judgment” for him to “condemn his own country on foreign soil.”

On this tour, Obama is expected to give a speech on foreign policy while in Egypt but James Phillips, senior research fellow of Middle Eastern Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, believes the focus should be on a comparison between the people’s future defined by the Islamists and a future defined by freedom.

The consensus of the analysts was that the worst thing Obama could do on his visit is to succumb to the idea of incessantly apologizing for America’s past and issues like what the Bush administration dubbed the “War on Terror” and instead step up to the challenges boldly.

Gardner said he believes the President “needs to toughen his act on the international stage, project strong international leadership, and stand up to both the threat of a nuclear armed Iran as well as a nuclear armed North Korea.” He added that this is the time for strong U.S. leadership.

Justice at the Price of Safety

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

A unified approach to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay will be crucial in order to meet the one-year deadline signed into law in January by President Obama, according to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who testified before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday.

Holder said the Department has "no choice but to release" some of the detainees. He said they must be released because otherwise an order from the In terms of release, we have to release them or an order from the U.S. courts would be defied.

The Department of Justice is taking the lead from the work set out by President Barack Obama to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and ensure that the policies going forward “live up to our nation’s value,” said Holder.

The Guantanamo Review Task Force will make decisions about where detainees will be housed on an individual basis. Holder said that Task Force's decisions will be guided by “what is in the interest of national security, the foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.”

Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said “the President has announced the closure of Guantanamo Bay without any plan for the terrorists detained there and has admitted that he cannot guarantee that those detainees who are released will not seek to attack our country again.”

In response, Holder reiterated that the Department isn’t going “to do anything, anything that would put the American people at risk. Nothing.”