Barack Obama's final State of the Union speech Tuesday night might go down in history as his worst.
Or maybe I'm just speaking personally. It's Obama's foreign policy -- not just the policy itself, but his dubious grasp of it -- that knocked my socks off.
It was honestly the first time this president scared me.
At a time when radical Islamic terrorism is the top concern of most Americans -- something Obama aggravated first by underestimating the enemy and then by cutting our military spending -- he used his SOTU moment to mock our fear with assurances that even displeased the joint chiefs, who were sitting virtually in the front row.
"We built a global coalition, with sanctions and principled diplomacy, to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran," he said. "As we speak, Iran has rolled back its nuclear program, shipped out its uranium stockpile, and the world has avoided another war. ..."
I don't know about you, but I felt sick.
And at another point, he said, “Let me tell you something. The United States of America is the most powerful nation on earth. Period. Period. It’s not even close. It’s not even close! ... No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin."
Are you kidding me, Mr. President? You were speaking hours after Iran seized two U.S. Navy boats and 10 sailors -- put our sailors on their knees with their hands on their heads. Demanded a public apology of them. Iran is the nation Secretary of State John Kerry just called "our partner in the pursuit of peace," the one we're about to hand over $150 billion to. This is some partner.
Nor did the president at any point in his speech mention the Americans Iran holds in captivity. He declined the chance to reassure the nation that they would come home safely. What does that mean -- that maybe he isn't so sure they will?
This was an omission that will define in history Obama's last SOTU.
No wonder the joint chiefs didn't stand up and clap. No wonder they sat expressionless, never moved a muscle. Not until the president mentioned the sacrifices of our veterans did the joint chiefs rise and applaud.
Perhaps more frightening than bravado and policy that leaves our joint chiefs cold is the totally eroneous statement Obama made about Russia.
Said our president, “Even as their economy contracts, Russia is pouring resources to prop up Ukraine’s and Syria – states they see slipping away from their orbit.”
But, wait a minute. That's not right. While Russia has been “pouring resources” into the conflict, it certainly has not been to “prop up” the Ukrainian government, it has instead gone to those who seek to bring it down.
The Daily Caller News Foundation was among the first to point this out. "Russia made headlines across the world starting in 2014 when Russian forces were seen marching in to Ukrainian territory. By March 2014, Russia officially annexed Crimea. Conflict between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government have been ongoing ever since."
Given Obama’s heavy emphasis on what he believes are his foreign policy successes and the continuing challenges terrorism poses, most of us who don't get a foreign policy briefing every morning can be forgiven if we didn't catch the blunder.
But Casey Michel, a writer who covers post-Soviet affairs, took to Twitter the morning after the president's address, curious to find out if he was the only one to notice the mistake.
“It was amazing and embarrassing,” Michel told The Daily Caller News, “this was the capstone speech to Obama’s presidency … editors, aides and the president all looked at this.
"The mistake was not a simple slip of the tongue on Obama’s part. The discrepancy was written into the text of the address that was sent out by the White House to the media."
According to Michel, the gaffe shows a “lack of prioritization on Ukraine” from those in the Obama administration. He notes the fact that it went largely unnoticed shows just how little attention the public has paid to the issue."
These are the people in charge of the nation the world looks to for leadership. I'll sleep easier when we have an administration that understands world history and our place in it.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
