Book: Obama a 'dithering, controlling' president | Drudge Retort

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Book: Obama a 'dithering, controlling' president

arack Obama is a "dithering" president whose controlling tendencies and extreme risk-averse attitude to foreign policy has damaged US interests in the Middle East, according to a new book by a senior former State Department adviser.
Vali Nasr, a university professor who was seconded in 2009 to work with Richard Holbrooke, Mr Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, records his profound disillusion at how a "Berlin Wall" of domestic-focused advisers was erected to protect Mr Obama.
"The president had a truly disturbing habit of funnelling major foreign policy decisions through a small cabal of relatively inexperienced White House advisers whose turf was strictly politics," Mr Nasr writes in The Dispensable Nation: America Foreign policy in Retreat.

Posted by justanoversight at 11:31 AM | 34 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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justanoversight

Joined 2009/02/03
Visited 2013/05/24

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Nice work, libs. But of course nobody cares.

Obama's incompetence, America's ignorance, and the media's complicity will surely characterize this auspicious historical milestone.

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PERFECT thread after something I heard just this morning..

"OUR LIVES are being run by a man who couldn't do our jobs if he tried."

couldn't agree more.

#1 | Posted by afkabl2 at 2013-03-05 11:39 AM | Reply | Flag:

But Babbler loved "W's" incompetent blustering, 'bull in a china shop' 'invade at the drop of a hat' presidency of credit card wars and destruction of the economy, and search and destroy mission to foil 'Gog and Magog'.

#2 | Posted by oldwhiskeysour at 2013-03-05 11:54 AM | Reply | Flag:

Does this surprise anyone? Of course not. Matsop has correctly stated many times the doofus in chief is in way over his head. The only thing protecting him is the concrete wall the MSM has placed around him and over him. A future POTUS will be placed in a very precarious position with the foreign relations mess created.

#3 | Posted by matsop at 2013-03-05 12:01 PM | Reply | Flag:

Mat, compare and contrast Obama's " foreign relations mess created" to W's.

#4 | Posted by oldwhiskeysour at 2013-03-05 12:09 PM | Reply | Flag:

#2. Nice deflection. Not really. You voted for Emperor Barackus. Now own it.

#5 | Posted by justanoversight at 2013-03-05 12:12 PM | Reply | Flag:

Re #4 Don't get suck in, Mat! Standard lib tactic. We'll spend the entire threat defending President Bush from the lib lies rather than highlighting O's incompetence and the danger our country faces because of it.

#6 | Posted by justanoversight at 2013-03-05 12:14 PM | Reply | Flag:

What happens in Benghazi, stays in Benghazi.

#7 | Posted by JROD at 2013-03-05 12:18 PM | Reply | Flag:

"Mat, compare and contrast Obama's " foreign relations mess created" to W's."

Welllll, Obama's foreign policy has been more successful and has resulted in an "Arab Spring" so we now see peace in Libya, Syria, Yeman, Mali, Nigeria, Tunisia and a peaceful Muslim Brotherhood governing Egypt. Obama is now "more flexible" with Russia, Iran has abndoned its quest for a nuclear weapon and THIS just in this morning....

www.usatoday.com

#8 | Posted by jestgettinalong at 2013-03-05 12:21 PM | Reply | Flag:

That's where your wrong Jrod. It's moved to Syria now.

#9 | Posted by Dalton at 2013-03-05 12:22 PM | Reply | Flag:

After 4 trillion is wasted war costs and thousands of unnecessary deaths and other casualties caused by George Bush it is just beyond belief that you guys who supported Bush think anyone values your opinions about how Obama is conducting foreign policy. None of the voices who supported Bush have any business speaking today. You should slink away in shame.

#10 | Posted by danni at 2013-03-05 12:23 PM | Reply | Flag:

Ya'll give O a break. He's leading with his behind.

#11 | Posted by Dalton at 2013-03-05 12:24 PM | Reply | Flag:

Danni, the guy that wrote the book is not a Bush supporter. So, how do you feel about what the guy that worked for the president had to say?

#12 | Posted by Dalton at 2013-03-05 12:25 PM | Reply | Flag:

You should slink away in shame.

#10 | POSTED BY DANNI

Danni is getting her dander up. It's gonna be a good day on the DR!

#13 | Posted by justanoversight at 2013-03-05 12:29 PM | Reply | Flag:

But Babbler loved "W's" incompetent blustering, 'bull in a china shop' 'invade at the drop of a hat' presidency of credit card wars and destruction of the economy, and search and destroy mission to foil 'Gog and Magog'.

#2 | Posted by oldwhiskeysou

any radical leftist who tried to make this assertion starts off wrong and continues to the end not really knowing the truth or having anything to back it up with.

I have a record of calling "W" a worthless, trashy, stupidly dupes and dronelike name when I said he was spending money like a XXXXX democrat !!!!!!

#14 | Posted by afkabl2 at 2013-03-05 12:47 PM | Reply | Flag:

and THIS GUY was GIVEN by the gop the authority to MOVE MONEY...to put it in places that would hurt people the least

so what did THIS GUY SAY?

NO..of course because every single BAD thing that happens to people he is supposed to SERVE And GOVERN is one more point to BLAME and to gather the POWER that he craves.

the POTUS is HURTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILLFULLY AND on purpose..political purpose

so much for the baloney from the left about gop being party over country

#15 | Posted by afkabl2 at 2013-03-05 12:50 PM | Reply | Flag:

YIKES>

its time for some more CAPS therapy

#16 | Posted by afkabl2 at 2013-03-05 12:50 PM | Reply | Flag:

I just think the author is mad because where not going to bomb Iran for Israel.

#17 | Posted by HeliumRat at 2013-03-05 02:42 PM | Reply | Flag:

George Bush
#10 | Posted by danni

LOL

#18 | Posted by JOE at 2013-03-05 02:50 PM | Reply | Flag:

"The president had a truly disturbing habit of funnelling major foreign policy decisions through a small cabal of relatively inexperienced White House advisers whose turf was strictly politics," Mr Nasr writes - FTA

Obama is best as a campaigner, neighborhood agitator. This is his experience which according to the left is all that is needed..the ability to run a campaign, well the campaign president is what we got.

For Obama, the lens he sees things is one long campaign, therefore everything must be vetted politically, why is this surprising...

Its so obvious the liberals on the DR are avoiding this thread....other than Danni, which didn't even bother to read the posted part of the article.

#19 | Posted by AndreaMackris at 2013-03-05 03:00 PM | Reply | Flag:

Whatever his foreign policy failures have been, they haven't been because he's not aggressive enough.

People who support ultra-agressive, costly, risky foreign policy are imbeciles. Intervening in other countries with no idea what the end result will be is not smart. Obama's failures have come from when he does take this route.

This Nasr guy can take his idiot opinion and shove it. He couldn't be any more obviously wrong.

#20 | Posted by Sully at 2013-03-05 03:21 PM | Reply | Flag:

#2, #4, and #10 (OWS and Dani):

You can bash Bush all you want, I wasn't exactly happy with things he did either. However, what the heck does that have to do with BHO's incompetance? You continue to cover up his blunders by pointing out how much worse the other guy was (in your opinion). That doesn't make BHO any less of a looser. All he is is a community organizer and politician (good at the later), but will never understand the first thing about leadership.

#21 | Posted by path at 2013-03-05 04:05 PM | Reply | Flag:

Sully, I thought the point of the writer was that Obama is not engaged? Not whether he is too aggressive or too passive. Just that everything is ran through his political team vs people who actually might know how to handle a situation.

#22 | Posted by Dalton at 2013-03-05 04:16 PM | Reply | Flag:

"After 4 trillion is wasted war costs"
#10 | Posted by danni

To quote yourself: "Link please"

#23 | Posted by KBM at 2013-03-05 08:19 PM | Reply | Flag:

0bama isn't dithering he's a biddable puppet of the Democrat hierarchy

#24 | Posted by Gimme_a_Scotch at 2013-03-05 08:29 PM | Reply | Flag:

Obama is not "controlling". George Soros is.

#25 | Posted by Federalist at 2013-03-05 08:33 PM | Reply | Flag:

Re #4 Don't get suck in, Mat! Standard lib tactic. We'll spend the entire threat defending President Bush from the lib lies rather than highlighting O's incompetence and the danger our country faces because of it.

#6 | Posted by justanoversight at 2013-03-05 12:14 PM | Reply |

Phew, thanks just; I didn't see that landmine----olwhiskey is pretty tricksy, isn't he?---and I was thinking how respectful he was today.

#26 | Posted by matsop at 2013-03-05 08:41 PM | Reply | Flag:

"After 4 trillion is wasted war costs and thousands of unnecessary deaths and other casualties caused by George Bush..."

I totally agree, Danni, but the Dems supported it, too, and I voted for Obama in his first run because I hoped he would end this stuff.
He did not, but keeps saying he is.
This is Viet Nam all over, with both parties blaming the other.

#27 | Posted by Diablo at 2013-03-05 09:43 PM | Reply | Flag:

From the same book....

Nasr also points out in the book that in reality the United States was spending much more on Afghanistan that it devoted to Pakistan.

"For every dollar we gave Pakistan in aid, we gave $20 to Afghanistan. That money did not go very far; it was like pouring water into sand. Even General Petraeus understood this. I recall him saying at a Pakistan meeting: "You get what you pay for. We have not paid much for much of anything in Pakistan."

#28 | Posted by Rigel at 2013-03-05 11:25 PM | Reply | Flag:

"America had to talk to Pakistan frequently and not just about security issues that concerned the United States, but also about economic and social issues the Pakistanis cared about. So Holbrooke convinced Clinton that America had to offer a strategic partnership to Pakistan, built around a formal ‘strategic dialogue' the kind of forum that America holds with a number of countries, including China and India," he argues.

Nasr, who is the dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, writes that the US National Security Council at that time "wanted to do the State Department's job but was not up to the task. It was no surprise that our AfPak policy took one step forward and two steps back." He says despite efforts by Hillary Clinton, the US foreign policy was shaped by the security institutions who had a "predictably narrow and terrorism-focused" approach.

#29 | Posted by Rigel at 2013-03-05 11:26 PM | Reply | Flag:

And then the Americans wonder "Where did we go wrong???" LOL

#30 | Posted by Rigel at 2013-03-05 11:27 PM | Reply | Flag:

Calling Obama 'dithering' is a compliment.

#31 | Posted by MURPHY at 2013-03-05 11:37 PM | Reply | Flag:

"For every dollar we gave Pakistan in aid, we gave $20 to Afghanistan. That money did not go very far; it was like pouring water into sand.

ALL of THAT... went into growing Karzai's heroin empire.

Clap... clap... clap..... you guys are brilliant! (sarcasm)

#32 | Posted by Rigel at 2013-03-05 11:51 PM | Reply | Flag:

"Obama's the one who never worked a day in his life. He never earned a penny that wasn't public money. How many fund-raisers does he attend every week? How often does he play basketball and golf? I wish I had that kind of time. He's lazy, but the media won't report that."

Seems the head of news agencies sees obama the way many in this country see him.

#33 | Posted by moneywar at 2013-03-06 03:13 PM | Reply | Flag:

On television in front of a hand picked audience, Moneywar?

#34 | Posted by Diablo at 2013-03-06 09:54 PM | Reply | Flag:

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