A new Web site created by none other than the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, is aggressively attacking President Barack Obama’s “weak” foreign policy.
The site, keepamericasafe.com, believes that “the United States can only defeat our adversaries and defend our interests from a position of strength.” This position of strength includes continuing the Bush administration policies that have apparently “succeeded in preventing any further attacks on the American homeland.”
Keep America Safe describes Obama’s foreign policy as “radical” and lists its faults, including:
* Treating terrorism as a law enforcement matter.
* Giving foreign terrorists the same rights as American citizens.
* Launching investigations of CIA agents.
* Cutting defense spending.
* Breaking faith with our allies and attempting to appease our adversaries.
In actuality, Obama’s foreign policy really isn’t that different from the Bush administration’s.
Although Obama was attacked by conservatives for “cutting” the defense budget, Obama actually increased overall defense spending as he promised during his campaign. He proposed a $534 billion defense budget for the fiscal year 2010; an 8 percent increase from 2009 and equal to what the Bush administration budgeted for 2010.
Barack Obama has also continued the Bush policy of using private contractors such as Blackwater to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, increasing their numbers by 23 percent. And he has escalated the number of troops in Afghanistan, sending more than 17,000 new men and woman to the war-torn land.
As a senator, Obama voted for the renewal of the PATRIOT Act and, as president, supports extending controversial provisions in the bill due to sunset in December.
And Obama’s dealings with Iran are all too similar to the fashion in which George W. Bush dealt with Iraq: Pressuring access to the country’s private facilities and giving verbal ultimatums.
The truth is, Obama’s foreign policy isn’t all that different from Bush’s. But perhaps Keep America Safe and others would like us to think it is.
Jessica Schreindl is a Missouri Southern State University senior. She writes a blog for The Joplin Globe called Redheaded Politics. Find it at www.joplinglobe.com.
