Obama's minor gaffe represents some major policy flaws

Every week the media takes a trivial story and runs with it, much to the shock of more sensible viewers. Last week, Americans were treated to extensive coverage of President Obama's somewhat embarrassing bow before Emperor Akihito of Japan.

But last week, for the first time in recent memory, the week's trivial story was not so trivial at all. While Obama's bow was a non-event, it is representative of his whole foreign policy. So far, rather than represent the United States, Obama has bowed to every world leader in an obsequious attempt to ingratiate the U.S. with them.

This policy has been disastrous, not only for the opportunities we have lost, but also for damage done to our reputation. In this year alone, we lost a chance to destabilize the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran and gave up our plans to install a missile system to defend Eastern Europe. More importantly, we insulted all those nations that had put their trust in us to defend them.

When the Iranian regime looked as though it might be on the verge of collapse following Ahmadinejad's stolen election, Obama bowed aside and simply said, "It is up to the Iranians to make decisions about who Iran's leaders will be. We respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran."

In failing to declare the election exactly what it was - a sham - Obama gave the Iranian administration the ability to suppress and repress its people without any significant opposition.

He did this with the hope that he could pave the way for peace in the Middle East and enable the softer elements of the Iranian government to end the nation's nuclear program. But this was a pipe dream in a world in which nuclear weapons grant nations enormous power. The only way they can be made to relinquish their hopes of attaining them is through equally power incentives against their production. And for a nation rich in oil with powerful allies like China and Russia, no such incentives can be crafted without strong internal and external pressure.

When the Russians pressed the Obama administration to give up its plans to construct a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, Obama bowed aside and refrained from building a system that would defend the region from the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons. In tacitly acknowledging Russian control of Eastern Europe, and reviving the old concept of a multi-polar world dominated by nations controlling their respective spheres of influence, Obama did significant damage to the strategic position of the U.S. around the world.

He did this damage with the hope that by appeasing Russia, he could gain valuable support in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. This too was a pipe dream, for so long as Russia has substantial oil reserves it can use Iran as leverage against the U.S. It will not turn against its useful ally and support America in stopping Iran from achieving nuclear capabilities. Rather, it will strive to regain influence in those nations that have escaped its orbit and regain its position as a global power. The Russians will take whatever they can get and give nothing.

Obama's policies have damaged the reputation of the U.S. abroad. Our image as the progenitors of freedom is in grave distress. So long as we refuse to protect citizens as their government takes away their right to decide the course of their nation, and so long as we fail to defend those nations that we freed, we will lose respect abroad. And as we lose respect, true respect, the kind that comes from deeds not words, we will lose our ability to shape world affairs without force.

So while Obama's bow was a small news event, it represents his whole foreign policy. Obama's foreign policy must change; he must resurrect the old American belief that ours is a nation dedicated to the advance of freedom on this earth. For this is the America that inspired the world and it is the image of America that we must carry forward to the future.