Obama has failed miserably every time he tried to convince the top leaders of Europe to do anything. He went to Copenhagen to get the Olympics for Chicago. That worked well! Then he went back to try get a cap and trade deal. That also failed. He begged for more troops for Afghanistan, they responded by withdrawing troops. He tried to convince them to pass a big stimulus package like he did in the U.S. They ignored him. He has struck out in every attempt to exert foreign policy influence. But suddenly, miraculously, Obama apparently called the leaders of France and Germany and convinced them to pony up $1 trillion to save Greece. What happened? Did the vaunted Obama charm finally come through? Not exactly! What really happened was that Obama finally said the magic words that got Europe’s attention and convinced them to take action; he blamed Bush:
American officials urged that Mr Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel recall the U.S. lesson of 2008-2009 when the Bush administration persuaded a reluctant Congress to approve a massive $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
While politically unpopular, the U.S. rescue plan convinced markets that authorities were serious about keeping banks afloat.
This is remarkable when you think about it. The only way Obama was been able to convince any foreign power to do something was when he pointed out that this was done by the Bush administration. It certainly shows who is really respected by world leaders and, more importantly, shows who is not.
The original TARP program, as proposed by Bush, did work reasonably well. It was a loan and much of it has been paid back. However, as soon as Pelosi, Reid and Obama got their hands on it they turned it into a catch-all spending program. I wonder if anyone in the main stream media even noticed!
In the meantime the Obama administration continues its well established pattern of botching any attempt at an effective foreign policy.
There are rumors that Pakistan told military intelligence that they have captured Mullah Omar. If this is true, it doesn’t appear anyone bothered to tell the White House. At least no one bothered to tell Hillary Clinton. One day after she threatened Pakistan with dire consequences with regard to the Time Square Bomber, the administration started backing down big time. Richard Holbrooke was sent in to smooth the feathers ruffled by Hillary. She of course just lied about what she said. But the problem it that she said it on a television and there is all that video. (Similar to all those neat shots of Obama promising to put health care negotiations on CSPAN) One thing is sure, something big happened:
The hypocrisy and/or stupidity of the MSM continues to amaze me on this subject. In February a combined force of U.S. and Pakistani troops captured Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, second in command to Mullah Omar. If that had happened during the Bush administration the NYT would have been immediately accusing the U.S. of by-passing water-boarding by letting Pakistan do the dirty deed. This would have been further evidence of the maniacal mind of the evil Dick Cheney. Funny thing, I haven’t heard one word from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or even MSNBC demanding that we make sure there’s no unfair questioning going on. Apparently torture is only torture when it is done by a Republican:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/secondincommand-to-mullah-omar-captured-1901749.html
TDM