Back in 1992, Rodney King memorably said, “Can we all get along?”  To civil and rational people, it seems simple enough.  Follow the golden rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you), and most conflict can be avoided.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way in the arena of world politics.  “Getting along” is not even on the radar of some leaders.  Power is a strong aphrodisiac, and a person or country that appears weak and undecided is a victim in the making for those aforementioned uncivil and irrational people.

Enter Barack Obama.  He started off his Presidency with the infamous apology tour.  Despite the parsing of words to decide if he actually apologized or not, he definitely proclaimed the faults and shortcomings of the United States, as he perceived them, on the international stage.  It really doesn’t matter whether or not his statements were true; what matters is that his words announced to the world that the new U.S. President was, at best,  a weak proponent of America.

When Russian President Putin began the invasion of Crimea, a  meme began circulating online of Obama threatening to unfriend Putin.  The graphic exemplified the general feeling about Obama’s weakness as a leader.  His response to a reporter’s question about what he would do about the invasion was wordy and had no real meat.  His modus operandi consists of empty words and ever-moving red lines. 

Recently CNN had “Putin Bullying Obama?” scroll across the screen.  That immediately put forth Putin as the one in power and Obama as the victim – the weak one.  Bullying only happens when there are no serious consequences for the bully.  If what a bully wants is more important to him than the possible  consequences, then he will continue to bully.  And when the victim merely responds with empty threats (“There will be consequences,”  “You’re on the wrong side of history!” “We have options on the table!”), he will continue to be bullied.  Russia fired a test ICBM this week.  US officials were quick to say that they knew about the test ahead of time; it was nothing significant. However, the test was done less than 300 miles from the Ukraine.  I think Putin was flexing his muscles a bit.  Nanny nanny boo boo.

Iranian General Masoud Jazayeri called Obama the “low-IQ US president” and talked about how he is a joke in Iran – especially among children: 

“The low-IQ US president and his country’s Secretary of State John Kerry speak of the effectiveness of ‘the US options on the table’ on Iran while this phrase is mocked at and has become a joke among the Iranian nation, especially the children,” General Masoud Jazayeri said, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.

Jazayeri called Obama’s statements regarding the deployment of US troops “completely inexpert remarks far from the reality, and these statements can be used as the joke of the year.”

Of course an opponent is going to do some smack talking, but can Obama prove him wrong?  No, he can’t; because Obama is weak.  A weak person is an appeaser – someone who wants to get along, regardless of the cost.  Most of us knew kids in school who were so desperate for the other kids to like them that they did ridiculous and dangerous things – and instead of making the other kids like them, it just made the other kids dislike them more. No one likes a pushover.

Winston Churchill said:

An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last!

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said:

“We should be able to stop Russia in its aggressive moves precisely in order to avoid a conflict. . . . History shows . . . that those who appease all the time in order to preserve peace usually only buy a little bit of time.”

Michael Ledeen describes Obama’s approach to foreign policy as “passionate appeasement.”  Ledeen mentioned a quote by Heywood Broun: 

Appeasers believe that if you keep on throwing steaks to a tiger, the tiger will become a vegetarian.

Power promotes respect when it is based on fairness and when its actions match its words.  Appeasement, on the other hand, in which words mean little, promotes instability and further conflict.

Obama’s foreign policy is one of appeasement.  Heaven forbid that we do or say anything that might possibly offend anyone or make them uncomfortable.  Obama’s foreign policy of appeasement will only serve to continually weaken America’s interests.  Eventually we will be eaten by the crocodile of appeasement. That crocodile is already well into his meal of USA a la Appeasement.