John Kerry Defends His Awful Foreign Policy Record

via:FixThisNation

oped: All I have to say about this: http://sharlaslabyrinth.blogspot.com/2017/01/john-kerry-be-walkin-dog.html 


Secretary of State John Kerry penned an op-ed for The New York Times on Thursday where he defended his accomplishments and those of President Obama on the eve of Donald J. Trump’s inauguration as the 45th President of the United States.
“There are some who see nightmares wherever they look and insist that the entire global system is unraveling and that America’s position as world leader is in precipitous decline,” Kerry wrote. “As the departing secretary of state, I cannot claim objectivity. But I will leave office convinced that most global trends remain in our favor and that America’s leadership and engagement are as essential and effective today as ever.”

This is the kind of nothing statement you can make without worrying about anyone contradicting you. If you don’t make any assertions of fact, you’re exempt from fact-checking. It’s hard to quantify spurious terms like “most global trends,” “our favor,” and “leadership and engagement.” Even if what Kerry says is true, it could be that global trends favor the U.S. in spite of what he and Obama have done – not because of it.
But that’s obviously not what Kerry wants us to believe, because he spends the rest of the op-ed defending the Obama administration’s foreign policy decisions.
On the nuclear deal with Iran: “We blocked Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon and made our nation, our allies and the world safer.”

Then why is it that so many Middle Eastern countries, including Israel, believe you did the opposite? Why is it that so many experts think Obama merely kicked the can down the road a decade…while handing Iran billions of dollars with which they can fund terrorism and ultimately build the bomb?
On Russia invading Ukraine: “The Obama administration was able to defy skeptics by working with our European Union partners to impose sanctions that have isolated Russia and badly damaged its economy.”
Yeah, and then Putin reached into his bag of tricks and installed a Russian puppet as the next U.S. president! At least, that’s what you guys have been telling us, right? If you damage a country’s economy and, in retaliation, they determine your next election, is that really a victory for diplomacy? That Kerry even had the gall to mention Russia proves that he doesn’t really believe that story.

In closing, Kerry took a thinly-veiled shot at the incoming president.
“Diplomacy requires creativity, patience, and commitment to a steady grind, often away from the spotlight,” Kerry wrote. “Results are rarely immediate or reducible to 140-character bites. But it has helped build a world our ancestors would envy.”
The generic “diplomacy” has accomplished some of this, but not the version used by John Kerry’s State Department. This administration’s diplomacy has led to a tottering house of cards that could collapse at any moment. Obama and Kerry took a big gamble – Can we keep everything together long enough to get the hell out of dodge and then blame the next president when it all comes crashing down?
It paid off.
Now it will be up to President Trump to deal with the fallout.