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At Large
Now Obama Offends Australia
Not even a fly-by?
The Obama administration’s determination to unnecessarily damage America’s relations with its best friends and allies apparently continues unabated.
Britain has been infuriated by America’s “neutrality” over the Falklands or Malvinas, relations with Israel have reached the lowest point in 50 years over new buildings in Jerusalem, many see as a betrayal the cancelling missile bases in Eastern Europe, and there has been the pointless and destructive interference in Honduras.
As well as damaging relations with old friends, there is not the slightest indication that any of this has won a single new friend. It has not resulted in Hugo Chavez or President Ahmadinejad emitting one flake of spittle less when raving against the U.S. Planning permits for new churches or cathedrals in Mecca have remained thin on the ground.
Now Australia looks like being added to the list of insulted allies. President Barack Obama has dropped plans to visit Australia. Twice in the past year, a visit to Australia and Indonesia has been proposed, then canceled. On Friday Obama announced that he will visit Indonesia later this fall, but not Australia.
This does not mean huge damage to the Pacific alliance. It is far too strong for that. But Australia has troops fighting at America’s side in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the only country that has fought beside the U.S. in every major war the U.S. has been involved in for the last hundred years, losing about 300 men dead in Korea and 500 dead in Vietnam. It has also possibly been the most consistent of all countries in supporting the U.S. in the United Nations. U.S. Navy ships are frequent visitors to Australian ports.
Having the U.S. as a strong protector has been the cornerstone of Australian foreign policy, the beginnings of which can be traced back to the visit of the Great White fleet in 1908.
Talk of Australia looking to a new protector in China can be dismissed as sensational fantasy, although of course there is always an adversary-culture Left ready to exploit reasons for anti-Americanism, real or manufactured. Already these are commentators wondering loudly why Australia is sacrificing soldiers’ lives in Afghanistan on behalf of an ally who evidently doesn’t take it seriously. It is a small but real gift to America’s enemies and a small but real blow to its friends. The media play a part in creating political opinion. So do speeches by politicians. So does talk in pubs. In all these spheres Obama has made defending the American alliance just that little bit more difficult. And for what? For nothing.
Given that Obama is visiting Indonesia (which to the best of my knowledge has never fought as an ally of America’s), it would be perfectly easy for him to make a stop-over in Australia (the cynical might suggest that his schedule of activity is such that no one would miss him taking the few hours’ time out which this would entail).
The real point is not any possible damage to Australia-U.S. relations. The real point is that it is a further indication that the Obama administration doesn’t care about allies and is apparently incapable of joined-up thinking.
The situation recalls the old saw about the battle and the kingdom being lost for the want of a horseshoe nail. Slighting Australia might be a small and passing thing in itself, but it could have large consequences.
If Australia feels slighted enough to pull troops out of Afghanistan ahead of the U.S. (and given the fact it has a left-of-center government, though an unstable one, this is possible), other countries could easily follow.
Britain has a much bigger commitment than Australia (and has lost more than 300 dead in Afghanistan so far) and is desperate to save money. The British Navy, which wants to keep its promised aircraft carriers, and the Royal Air Force, which wants more fighters and new transports, could both be powerful lobbies to pull the Army out of Afghanistan to save their pet projects.
Australia pulling out could give them the leverage they need, and with Britain gone as well the other allies would quickly follow, leaving the entire burden to the U.S., both in terms of lives and treasure. Churchill once said something to the effect that having allies in a war can be frustrating, but not having them is worse. My personal opinion is that for the U.S. to pull out of Afghanistan need not be a disaster, and it will have to happen sooner or later anyway, but it should not be done simply as the result of a snowballing of unintended consequences.
All this ties in with another point: the snub to Australia can only tend to reinforce the notion that the Obama administration simply doesn’t know or care about foreign policy, or who its friends are.
About the Author
Hal G.P. Colebatch’s “Immram,” Counterstrike, is being published by Australian publisher Imaginites.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (63) | Leave a comment
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Booger| 9.28.10 @ 6:40AM
"All this ties in with another point: the snub to Australia can only tend to reinforce the notion that the Obama administration simply doesn’t know or care about foreign policy, or who its friends are."
Dear Mr. Colebatch,
In point of fact, the Obama administration knows EXACTLY who its friends are. The point is that the friendships of this administration are not, and never will be, the same as the friendships of the United States, its Constitution, or its people.
Cordially,
Booger
Scotto| 9.28.10 @ 9:31AM
Oh, those in the Obama Administration care PLENTY who their friends are. They just want different friends from the ones they have now.
gomygoommy| 9.28.10 @ 10:47AM
He's a MUSLIM. He's a Muslim, he's a Muslim, he's a Muslim. The only ones who's *SSES he's kissing, are the MUSLIMS, the MARXISTS, the SOCIALISTS, and the COMMUNISTS. Why?
"And I saw the BEAST rise from the SEA. And he was given a MOUTH, to speak Haughty and Blasphemous words. And he was allowed to exercise authority for forty two months." Revelations 13-5.
He only likes the Countries that Free People consider to be EVIL. Open your Eyes. There's no other explanation. The Mayan Calender ends Dec.21, 2012. Barack Hussein Obama's reign, ends Jan. 21, 2012.
Coincidence?
Obama DOES KNOW exactly who his friends are. They are the ENEMIES OF FREEDOM. The ENEMIES OF GOOD.
The enemies of GOD.
This ain't gonna end well. Mark my words.
gommygoomy| 9.28.10 @ 10:49AM
Correction. Obama's term expires Jan. 21, 2013.
baslimthecripple| 9.28.10 @ 6:57AM
Comes of having someone in the White House who's resume is even thinner than his skin. Someone stupid enough to return the bust of Winston Churchill, let's say.
Melvin| 9.28.10 @ 7:19AM
The man seems to have a, "Gift," for such things.
Redstateboy| 9.28.10 @ 12:08PM
The base of all good humor is factual... and Yes! Boy does Hussein have a "Gift"
Stephanie| 9.28.10 @ 7:23AM
Indonesia is muslim, Australia is not.
R Martin| 9.28.10 @ 8:55AM
Bingo!
CountryClassKook| 9.28.10 @ 8:59AM
THIS is the point, right here!
Scotto| 9.28.10 @ 9:33AM
I agree, but with the Obama administration I think a nation's being non-Western is enough to get it placed on the "nice" list.
Eddie| 9.28.10 @ 10:25AM
Exactly!!!
Cletus S.J. Yokel| 9.28.10 @ 9:55PM
Heck yeah! It's cuz that Olbammer is a secrified Muzleemo or my name ain't Cletus, by golly! I can tells his religion cuz he got the brownskin like them uther Mohammydoos! He's a little too uppity for my taste!
Stephanie| 9.28.10 @ 9:56PM
Exactly. WAY too uppity!
PaulD| 9.28.10 @ 7:25AM
Australia should rejoice!
Chisco| 9.28.10 @ 11:46AM
I'm with the "Australia should rejoice" crowd on this one...their soil need not be sullied by the presence of the slime that is barack obama being allowed to plant its feet on Australian ground!
Mattled| 9.28.10 @ 7:59AM
Australia is known as Down Under.
Obama is known as Fromunda.
Those of you old enough know the difference.
Chisco| 9.28.10 @ 11:48AM
I didn't know the difference, so I went and looked it up, and I have only one thing to say --
SPOT ON, DUDE!!
Occam's Tool| 9.28.10 @ 3:10PM
Totally agree.
chuck| 9.28.10 @ 8:56PM
Thanks for the laugh of the day!
Ret. Marine| 9.28.10 @ 8:07AM
If I were a leader of any Nation I would not want this fraud anywhere near my people, they might get the impression I was as weak as him by allowing this turd recognition as a leader. Australia is not a muslim country.
Idaho2run| 9.30.10 @ 5:45PM
So right! It still shows the bias towards our traditional allies and friends and preferential treatment of enemies, antagonists and those of the MUSLIM persuasion.
I thought Carter was the worst POTUS-he doesn't hold a candle to the infiltraitor-in-chief!!!
Doctor Right| 9.28.10 @ 8:09AM
I trust that the good people of Britain, Israel, Eastern Europe, and now Australia understand that it is not us - the American people - who are offending them, or turning our backs on them - it is our idiot President and his school-boy politics.
There's another reason Obama will not travel to Australia, and that's because he's sure to get only a lukewarm reception, at best. As a preening narcissist, he can't stomach the thought...After all, he's "President of the World", and if the foolish peasants don't acknowledge his greatness, then they don't get a visit.
And besides...Do you REALLY want him to come to Australia, anyway?? Cripes...We can't wait to get rid of him!
Petronius| 9.28.10 @ 8:10AM
President Obama is fortunate that Kevin "Bloody" Wilson does not know him well.
Howard| 9.28.10 @ 8:23AM
If the cancellation is an oversight, it means a poor strategic view on behalf of the Administration. If it is deliberate, then perhaps it shows again, Obama's arrogance.
Tom| 9.28.10 @ 8:29AM
Howard,
How could it possibly be an oversight?
Tom
Dan Hirsch| 9.28.10 @ 8:25AM
Hal, you missed Barry's point. He loves apologizing, his successor will get to spend the first half of his (OR HER) term apologizing to our true, allies. This is a Carteresque legacy that I'm sure Barry will harp on. I can here him now, "Some say that this President certainly spends more time apologizing to foreign countries than I ever did!"
What'll be different is that our next President will be genuinely remorseful for Obama's genuinely regrettable behavior. Unlike Barry who has sought forgiveness for things America did right!
David W| 9.28.10 @ 8:26AM
the first President I can remember is Richard Nixon. I mistakenly voted for Bill "can't keep my pants zipped" Clinton the first time he ran (but not the second). Regardless of what these presidents have done, I have never, never, never felt that any of them wanted to destroy this country or hated it. In Barack's case (I can't bring myself to call him "Mr. President") I believe that we have someone who not only hates this country and all that it stands for (including the Judeo/Christian values upon which it was based), but who is willing to do anything (and I mean anything) to drag it down. I see great parallels between him and Woodrow Wilson - another progressive president who almost turned this country into a totalitarian country (based upon what I read about him and his government). November can't come quickly enough.
RacerJim| 9.28.10 @ 11:46AM
The first President I can remember is Dwight David Eisenhower. Irregardless of which subsequent Presidents I voted for or what they did, I couldn't agree more with you.
Remember In November
Tom| 9.28.10 @ 8:30AM
I heard he returned a statue of Crocodile Dundee on loan from the Australian government.
davelnaf| 9.28.10 @ 8:55AM
It does matter when a US president by-passes a longtime ally in favor of a Muslim country like Indonesia. But Australians should not be overly upset that Obama has deliberately snubbed them. They should understand why he did it. As a youth Obama spent some time in Indonesia. But he and his mother did not live there nearly as well as their fellow expatriates. This rubbed young Barack the wrong way, very seriously the wrong way. He is going back to Indonesia to say “look at what I’ve become.” It’s an ego thing. And one Obama badly needs right now. With his policies
increasingly reviled here and abroad and with his party’s fortunes tanking with them Obama is going to be doing a lot of this jetting around to odd places to keep his already inflated ego puffed up. After all, this is Barack Hussein Obama, narcissist extraordinaire.
Australians should also understand that Obama does not like a majority of Americans. He may not even like America; one suspects this is the case given the urgency and recklessness of his attempts to change it. With Australia bearing a certain resemblance to America Obama decided that a visit to your country would be so like being back home and would make him feel uncomfortable. We wouldn’t want that to happen would we?
So, give the Bamster a break and don't take him too seriously. We're learning to do that ourselves. The consensus is that he is already the worst president in US history and the suspense now is seeing just how low he can go. Snubbing Australia was pretty low. But believe me he can go a lot lower than that. Would you want to reach out a hand of friendship to someone like that?
Kent Lyon| 9.28.10 @ 10:16AM
D'Souza explained this behavior well: It is an anti-Western colonialism mind-set. Australia is guilty of being a part of the British Empire, and hence is an evil country. Indonesia is a "developing" (previously "Third World") country which has no history of colonialism (just suppression of certain groups on Islands it controls--not unlike, or perhaps worse than, traditional Western European colonialism). Hence it is favored in the mind-set of Obama who above all seems to oppose Western colonialism. Hence the cool relations with Britain and Europe, including nationas that were members of their prior Empires and continue their affiliations with the mother country.
David Shoup| 9.28.10 @ 10:39AM
Does any thinking person really believe that the Obama Administration knows the difference between their right hand and their left? I am not surprised at all by Obama's treatment of the Aussies, the Brits, the Israelis, the Hondurans, or any other friend.
nobody wants obam| 9.28.10 @ 10:51AM
Obam doesn't visit the Aussies? Who cares? Why would the Aussies want to pay a small fortune to have this wanker visit them?
George S| 9.28.10 @ 12:25PM
Maybe Obama doesn't want to be embarrassed because he doesn't know the Australian language. Or is it Austrian they speak there, Rahm?
NavyBrat | 9.28.10 @ 12:32PM
This man is on a one way trip to destroy our credebility. As stated in the article, the Aussies sent their SAS to Afghanistan at the same time we sent our first troops in. So have the Kiwis. So have the Brits. So have the Canadians. He's crapped on ALL of them. Nothing new here, but MAN is it sad.
PS. Where's Toddard crying about THIS alliance? It seems the only alliance that our country has that he does't like is the one with Israel. Where are you Toddard? Inquiring minds wanna know.
Steve A| 9.28.10 @ 12:35PM
The truth is that nobody, including the author, knows precisely why he cancelled the visit so it is really kinda pointless to speculate. It is tempting to just pile on here & assume the worst. May not be the case.
NavyBrat | 9.28.10 @ 12:44PM
How is it "pointless to speculate" when we have examples of past behavior on which we can base our speculations? Spare us the "benefit of the doubt" diatribe.
Steve A| 9.28.10 @ 1:03PM
Yeah, I suppose you are sure it is all part of the grand cospiracy. I am simply not sure. For all I know, Michelle is probably making him take another vacation that conflicts with a trip to Aussieville. The point is this: There are WAY bigger fish to fry than this one as it relates to Obama & the catastrophic effects of his administration. This is a stretch at piling on with no facts (other than past behavior, as you state) to back it up. Relax.
NavyBrat | 9.28.10 @ 1:56PM
I'm not sure of anything. Like I said, I'm basing my speculation on past events. That's all. Just the same as everyone else here.
And I think that peeing on our most staunch allies throughout the world is just as catastrophic as many of the domestic debacles that the Sail Eared Simpleton has brought on this nation.
Steve A| 9.28.10 @ 2:07PM
Perhaps Mr. Sail Ears simply does not like Foster's for his beer summits. We shall likely never know. I know a few aussies & I am fairly sure they will get over it. Be good.
NavyBrat | 9.28.10 @ 4:36PM
Sorry for my pissy reply earlier. And yeah, I'm sure the Aussies could care less. Take it light.
Emma| 9.29.10 @ 12:44AM
It's find that you choose to back off a bit, but just as a bystander I have to say I see no problem with the essence of your earlier responses. Why on earth should we give the benefit of the doubt to a repeat/repeat/repeat/repeat offender on an international scale?
Spinnng Outta Control| 9.28.10 @ 12:46PM
Why in the world would Australia even want Obama to come visit? Is an Obama visit supposed to be some kind of honor or something? He can't even fill a venue for about 600 people in NYC, and that's at a "political" rally for goodness sake!
G.J. Maffei| 9.28.10 @ 1:01PM
Obama does not wear the American Flag on his lapel or place his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is played in public and did not visit ground zero on 9-11. TARP & Stimulus Packages have not created lasting jobs. But the New Health Bill contains a tax on homes to be sold in the future. There is talk of a tax on banking transactions such as: direct deposits, cash deposits and transferring funds between accounts in a proposed house bill. Not to mention a UN treaty that usurps the concerning banning all firearms to US citizens. It's time to bring out the history books and see who pulled these kinds of stunts in the past.
loulou| 9.28.10 @ 3:16PM
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Barry Hussein Soetoro Obama is a citizen of Indonesia.
I'm not sure it's wise for him to go to his country of citizenship. Documents might turn up.
MadMarlin| 10.1.10 @ 2:57AM
wouldn't that be a hoot!
primitiveone| 9.28.10 @ 4:35PM
This doucebag is such an embarassment. I didn't like Carter, but never felt he actually hated this country. Not so, Boy Barry. Our next president will have a lot of fences to mend.
NavyBrat | 9.28.10 @ 4:39PM
Yeah, its gonna be a tough job, for sure. Hell, just think about all the intel relationships ALONE that the Sail Eared Simpleton has damaged during his "Dis-mantle Everything Great About America" tour.
MoeBlotz| 9.28.10 @ 5:51PM
Our relations with Australia have not been the same since Bush 41 gave the good citizens the "thumbs up" sign on his way back to the airport. If you are not aware of what that gesture means in OZ,it indicates you are flipping them off.
Mad Hatter| 9.28.10 @ 7:05PM
Another Obama foreign policy blunder,
America's old alliances torn asunder,
To Israel builders bossy,
No time to visit the Aussie,
Only Barack's approval is going Down Under!
Davod| 9.28.10 @ 7:21PM
Some time ago, I attended a social meeting of US and Australian vets. The guest speaker, while acknowledging the long period of US-Australia friendship and military cooperation, put up several scenarios where the friendship ended. The scenarios were quite reasonable but neverthless he was almost shouted down. The vets refused to accept that the Australia-US friendship, especially the military kinship, could ever end.
tin hat| 9.28.10 @ 11:43PM
He is like a vampire. We are becoming weaker and weaker everyday!
We are poor, we have no friends, our military is discouraged.
How could one small group of people do so much damage, so quickly?
I need some good news!
Nancy in NC| 9.29.10 @ 5:29PM
November is right around the corner; 2012 isn't too far away. Hold on and keep your powder dry.
John DuBose| 9.29.10 @ 12:22AM
A president has three general types of authority.
1. The formal constitutional
2. The bully pulpit
3. The ability to do some things in secret.
By insulting the wrong countries and by showing disrespect for his own country, a president degrades the second and third of these.
Keep your fingers crossed that we do not need him to exercise them before he loses his presidency.
Emma| 9.29.10 @ 12:41AM
When he finally goes into exile, it's going to be interesting to see if he can find a nation willing to take him.
rickg| 9.29.10 @ 4:04AM
He did them a favor.
jim | 9.29.10 @ 5:35AM
When I read the title "Obama Offends Australia" I was expecting to find an incident similar to the one caused by the Duke of Edinburgh which offended a native Australian. Must say this is less cringeworthy than that :)
razorbacker| 9.29.10 @ 9:57AM
So POTUS Obama refuses to visit Australia? Thank goodness, is what I say.
I'm not sure exactly how Obama would have insulted Australians, but given recent history I'm confident that Obama would have managed to do so.
The Australians that I have had the pleasure to meet are universally friendly, outgoing, engaging, decent people. In order to get Obama's juices flowing you really need to have more of that old "Death to America" theme going.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque| 9.29.10 @ 5:24PM
It's probably all those damned white people running things in Australia that Obie has a problem with...
Nobody special | 9.30.10 @ 1:03PM
In the interest of maintaining good U.S. / Australia relations, someone should have told Obama about Kingston Heath Golf Club
Tex Expatriate| 9.30.10 @ 3:53PM
Obama is very good at what he intends: the wholesale destruction of America. It's why he ran for President, and why self-hating liveral Statists voted for him.
tom| 10.4.10 @ 10:47AM
Who give a damn about Australia? A bunch buck teeth idiots down under no where.