Obama’s Muddled Foreign Policy Message Buried in State of the Union
Little Content and a Lot of Recycled Rhetoric - A rambling, 80+ minute State of the Union Address tonight gave President Obama an opportunity to lay out his foreign policy positions, but 60 minutes into the talk he hadn’t touched the matter at all. ● When he finally did, what followed was a confusing muddle of claims of success and vague expressions of hope for things he’d like to accomplish without any specific plans attached. Bragging about ending the Iraq War, President Obama touted his plan to “end” the Afghan War, while openly talking about an open-ended deployment of US troops on the ground there engaged in “counter-terrorism” operations. A war “ended” and simultaneously endless. He then went on to talk about ending the “permanent war footing” the United States has been on since 9/11, but openly talked up increased increased military spending for “future missions” and intervention abroad.
Joseph Kishore: Obama’s State of the Union address: an empty and reactionary charade
The Guardian: State of the Union: Obama plays politics to tackle 'stalled' progress
Los Angeles Daily News: State of the Union 2014: Transcript of President Obama’s speech