Apologizer-in-Chief

On his recent World Tour ’09, President Obama stopped in Strasbourg, France, to speak to an audience largely consisting of French and German students.  There were some rather quotable moments, particularly those dealing with Euro-American diplomacy.  The President said “In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world.”  He continued by claiming that “Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” 

 

Now, in the spirit of the Fairness Doctrine, which may soon again be the law of the land, I must note that President Obama directed his diatribe toward the Europeans as well, noting that “… in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual, but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what is bad.”  My cynicism leads me to believe this portion of the speech was an attempt to preempt posts such as this; nonetheless, no one in class was exempt from the professorial lecture.

 

It is safe to assume that President Obama was referring to the Iraq War preparation when he refers to any sense of arrogance or derision.  Regardless of one’s particular opinion of the merits of the conflict in Iraq, it is irresponsible to label as “arrogant” the resolve of the United States to refuse to be handcuffed by nations on the UN Security Council who have not always been cozy to the concept American leadership in the first place.  Charles de Gaulle certainly had no problem sticking his thumb in the proverbial eye of the United States at every opportunity, and the French refused to support America in her quest to remove the Hussein regime which was believed at the time to possess weapons of mass destruction. 

 

Unfortunately, the Strasbourg speech is the latest revelation of the worldview of the Obama Administration and the President himself.  It is certainly true that the United States does not have a spotless historical record, but to go out of his way to accuse the nation of showing “arrogance” without giving equal time to explicitly articulate the vital service performed by the United States to guarantee the very existence of Europe is not only reckless and irresponsible, it is an embarrassment. 

 

I will give the President the benefit of the doubt and blame it on his history teachers.  Perhaps they did not explain how the United States tipped the balance in World War I, thereby saving France and the United Kingdom from the threat of Imperial Germany.    Perhaps they did not clearly communicate the account of the Nazi conquest of continental Europe as previously independent nations fell like dominos under Hitler’s regime.  Apparently Nazism did not qualify as one of those “common challenges” President Obama referenced in his speech.  Perhaps they did not note how the United States ensured Britain’s capability to stand against Hitler through Lend-Lease and Cash-and-Carry prior to even entering World War II.  Perhaps the curriculum failed to include the fact that the United States is the only nation in modern history to successfully and victoriously wage a two-front war, and in doing so defeated Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire.  Perhaps it was not a topic of discussion how President Roosevelt and Congress sent our brave soldiers to fight and die in defense of freedom, even European freedom.  Perhaps they did not teach how the United States was the only nation with either the will or capability to stand athwart the Soviet Union as its dictators massacred millions in the Ukraine and Soviet tanks rolled over students in Czechoslovakia who simply wanted freedom.  One can only hope President Obama was able to escape the government school system in time.

 

 

What I would appreciate from our friends in Gaul is an expression of thanks ― never mind, I would be satisfied with a mere acknowledgment ― of the sacrifice and burden undertaken by those arrogant Yankees that protected France from utter obliteration, twice.

 

And I would appreciate it if the American President would acknowledge it as well.      

   

Source for quotes:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5100338/Barack-Obama-arrogant-US-has-been-dismissive-to-allies.html