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Rise of ISIS Deprives Obama of a Mantle of Peacemaker Boehner Invites Another Response to State of Union, From Israeli Premier
(about 8 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Under the original plan, this was to be the State of the Union address in which President Obama would be able to go before the nation and declare that he had fulfilled his vow to end two overseas wars. Only the wars did not exactly cooperate. WASHINGTON — The long-running debate over President Obama’s foreign policy centered Wednesday on a speech to Congress — not the one the president just delivered but one that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel will give in three weeks.
Mr. Obama pulled American troops out of Iraq in 2011 and ordered all “combat forces” out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. But before he could seize the mantle of peacemaker in Tuesday night’s speech, the rise of a terrorist group called the Islamic State prompted Mr. Obama to send forces back to Iraq, and security challenges in Afghanistan led him to leave a slightly larger residual force. A day after the president’s State of the Union address, Speaker John A. Boehner invited Mr. Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress next month for what would effectively be a rebuttal. In the perennial argument over whether Mr. Obama’s approach to the world is wise or weak, Mr. Netanyahu essentially represents the “weak” case.
The total American military commitment overseas has shrunk significantly since Mr. Obama took office, with just 15,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, down from 180,000 six years ago. The situation in both countries, however, is not as clean or as settled as the president had hoped. Instead of ending American wars abroad, he now faces the prospect of finishing his presidency in two years with at least one of them still unresolved. The invitation stunned the White House, which called it a breach of protocol, but the surprise move was a sign that Republicans now controlling both houses of Congress intend to use their new majorities to challenge the president not only on domestic policy but also on international affairs. Congressional leaders plan to press their assertion that Mr. Obama does not take the danger posed by Islamic terrorists, Iran or Russia seriously enough.
Even so, Mr. Obama asserted on Tuesday night that his more restrained approach was the wiser course. “The question is not whether America leads in the world, but how,” he said. “When we make rash decisions, reacting to the headlines instead of using our heads, when the first response to a challenge is to send in our military, then we risk getting drawn into unnecessary conflicts.” “I don’t believe I’m poking anyone in the eye,” Mr. Boehner told reporters on Wednesday after announcing his invitation. “There is a serious threat in the world, and the president last night kind of papered over it. And the fact is that there needs to be a more serious conversation in America about how serious the threat is from radical Islamic jihadists and the threat posed by Iran.”
Mr. Obama said his strategy represented a “smarter kind of American leadership” that would eventually degrade and destroy the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS. Working with allies, the United States “is stopping ISIL’s advance” without “getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East,” he said. Few take those threats more seriously than Mr. Netanyahu, who presumably will tell Congress on Feb. 11 that Islamic extremism is on the rise in the Middle East and that Iran should not be trusted during negotiations over its nuclear program. Never close to Mr. Obama, Mr. Netanyahu appears to have decided it is time for a frontal appeal to lawmakers to counter the president.
But he acknowledged that destroying the Islamic State “will take time,” and he called on Congress to pass legislation formally authorizing the use of force “to show the world that we are united in this mission.” White House officials said that they learned of his appearance only Wednesday morning, shortly before it was announced. Not only is Mr. Obama not scheduled to meet with Mr. Netanyahu during his trip to Washington, miffed aides to the president said they had not even heard directly from their Israeli counterparts that the prime minister would be in town.
Referring to this month’s attacks in Paris, Mr. Obama renewed his vow to fight terrorists, despite questions from critics about his commitment. “We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks,” he said, “and we reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we’ve done relentlessly since I took office.” “The typical protocol would suggest that the leader of a country would contact the leader of another country when he’s traveling there,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told reporters traveling on Air Force One with the president to a speech in Boise, Idaho. “That certainly is how President Obama’s trips are planned when we travel overseas. So this particular event seems to be a departure from that protocol.”
While the address offered no new international initiatives, it did hint at the two areas in which Mr. Obama sees hope of shaping his foreign policy legacy by transforming relations with two longtime adversaries, Cuba and Iran. Decorum aside, the diplomatic row focused fresh attention on the part of Mr. Obama’s State of the Union address that went largely overlooked amid attention to his tax and education proposals. While he outlined no new foreign policies, the president used the speech to defend his national security strategy, arguing that a more restrained approach had helped the country avoid messy overseas entanglements.
A month after announcing that he will resume diplomatic relations with Cuba after more than 50 years, Mr. Obama called on Congress to lift the longstanding embargo against the island nation. “We are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date,” he said. “The question is not whether America leads in the world, but how,” Mr. Obama said in the address. “When we make rash decisions, reacting to the headlines instead of using our heads, when the first response to a challenge is to send in our military, then we risk getting drawn into unnecessary conflicts.”
He also repeated his intent to veto any legislation that would threaten new sanctions against Iran if negotiations over its nuclear program did not succeed, saying such legislation “will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails” and force an armed conflict. “The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom,” he said. While this is the year when he hoped to say he had ended two American wars with the withdrawal of combat forces from Afghanistan, the emergence of the terrorist group called the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has prompted him to send troops back to Iraq and to order warplanes to bomb enemy formations there and in Syria.
Critics found little to praise in Mr. Obama’s foreign policy. “President Obama has spent much of his presidency spreading false hope that the ‘tide of war’ was receding despite mountains of evidence to the contrary,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican majority leader. “Although the Obama administration sought to declare the war on terrorism over, the terrorists have only increased their assaults against free and moderate societies who do not share their extremist worldview.” But Mr. Obama noted that the total American military commitment overseas had shrunk sharply since he took office, with just 15,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, down from 180,000 six years ago. The situation in neither country, however, is as clean or settled as the president had hoped and he now faces the prospect of finishing his presidency two years from now with at least one of them still unresolved.
Speaker John A. Boehner said the troubles in Afghanistan and Iraq revealed the weaknesses of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy. “President Obama is more interested in keeping arbitrary, political deadlines than defeating the terrorist threat in Afghanistan,” his office said in a statement. Mr. Obama said his strategy represented a “smarter kind of American leadership” that would eventually degrade and destroy the Islamic State. Working with allies, the United States “is stopping ISIL’s advance” without “getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East,” he said.
“President Obama’s decision to withdraw from Iraq paved the way for ISIL’s rise and a terrorist resurgence in Iraq, which caught the administration off guard,” Mr. Boehner’s office said in another statement. But he acknowledged that destroying the Islamic State “will take time” and he called on Congress to pass legislation formally authorizing the use of force “to show the world that we are united in this mission.”
In a further shot at Mr. Obama, Mr. Boehner announced on Wednesday morning that he had invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to address a joint session of Congress on Feb. 11, his first such address in nearly four years. His language drew complaints from Republicans that he was trying to minimize the severity of the challenge. While he vowed to “continue to hunt down terrorists,” he never used the words “Al Qaeda” and mentioned only in passing the recent attacks in Paris that galvanized world outrage.
“I don’t believe I’m poking anyone in the eye,” Mr. Boehner said at a news conference. “There is a serious threat that exists in the world, and the president last night kind of papered over it. And the fact is is that there needs to be a more serious conversation in America about how serious the threat is from radical Islamic jihadists and the threat posed by Iran.” And his handling of Iran drew bipartisan criticism at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman, objected to administration efforts to squelch legislation targeting Iran. “Saying, ‘No, we really don’t want you to play a role, we want you to just trust us,’ is totally unacceptable from my standpoint,” he said.
In his speech, the president mocked those who question his toughness and made Russia his case in point. A year ago, during the height of the crisis in Ukraine, Mr. Obama said some had suggested that President Vladimir V. Putin was demonstrating strength while America was on the defense. The committee’s ranking Democrat, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who reportedly clashed with Mr. Obama over Iran during a private party retreat last week, was even harsher. “The more I hear from the administration and its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran,” he said.
In his address Tuesday night, Mr. Obama repeated his vow to veto legislation threatening new sanctions against Iran if negotiations over its nuclear program did not succeed. Such legislation, Mr. Obama said, “will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails” and perhaps force an armed conflict. “The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom,” he added.
The president used the speech to mock those questioning his toughness and made Russia his case in point. A year ago, during the height of the crisis in Ukraine, Mr. Obama said some had suggested that President Vladimir V. Putin was demonstrating strength while America was on the defense.
“Well, today it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters,” he said. “That’s how America leads — not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve.”“Well, today it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters,” he said. “That’s how America leads — not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve.”
What he did not mention was that Russia maintains control of Crimea, the peninsula it annexed from Ukraine, and continues to support pro-Russian separatists who are at war with Ukraine’s government despite a cease-fire that has failed to stop violence. Russia’s economy has indeed taken a huge hit, in large part because of the fall in oil prices, but so far Mr. Putin shows few signs of backing down. What he did not mention was that Russia still controls Crimea, the peninsula it annexed from Ukraine, and still supports pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine despite a cease-fire. Russia’s economy has indeed taken a huge hit, but so far, Mr. Putin has not backed down.
Mr. Obama has imposed a raft of sanctions that have taken a toll but has refused to put into effect more punitive measures passed on bipartisan votes by Congress because he is trying to maintain solidarity with Europe, which remains more leery of open confrontation with Moscow. Indeed, the Ukrainian president, Petro O. Poroshenko, decided to leave early from the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday to rush home after saying more Russian troops had crossed the border.
Just hours before the speech, Mr. Obama spoke by telephone with President François Hollande of France and discussed Ukraine, but a solution to the crisis remains elusive. In Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president, Petro O. Poroshenko, cut short his attendance at the annual World Economic Forum to rush home after saying more Russian troops had crossed the border.
As it happened, Mr. Obama made no mention of his next foreign policy challenge. After a quick two-day swing to Idaho and Kansas to promote his State of the Union domestic agenda, the president will leave this weekend for a trip to India, the second of his presidency.
While participating in the country’s annual Republic Day parade and touring the Taj Mahal, Mr. Obama hopes to shore up relations that have been strained at times over the years. But it is unclear whether he will be able to strike an agreement to fight climate change like the one he made with China last year.