Washington: A top Republican presidential aspirant has slammed President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, saying his “inconsistent and indecisive” administration has led the US to lose “the trust and the confidence” of friends. “The great irony of the Obama presidency is this: Someone who came to office promising greater engagement with the world has left America less influential in the world,” Jeb Bush, son of former president George H W Bush and brother of ex-president George W Bush, told a Chicago audience. Responding to questions after delivering his first foreign policy address, 62-year-old Bush alleged that the US is inconsistent and indecisive under the Obama Administration.
“We have lost the trust and confidence of our friends. We definitely no longer inspire fear in our enemies. The problem is perhaps best demonstrated by this administration’s approach to Iraq,” he said. Bush also said he favours Obama’s effort to “re-engage Asia” but said the use of term pivot was not correct. “I think the language (Asia Pivot) was wrong. The intent to try to reengage in Asia, I think is the right one. But it has to be real. It can’t just be talked about. It has to be real,” said Bush, the former Florida Governor, who has announced his intent to run for the 2016 presidential polls.
Bush also emphasised on the importance of engagement with China, saying “engagement with China is equally important. That we’ve got to create confidence with our traditional allies, Japan and Korea, Australia, for sure. But we also have to have an ongoing, deep relationship with China.” “Asia is a dynamic region because it’s modelled it’s rise on our American capitalist system and turned it into a uniquely Asian experience. And yet our allies in the region watch with anticipation because of a lack of consistent American engagement in that region as well and the rise of Chinese ambition,” he said.
Bush said the use of the term “pivot” was probably a mistake because, there are two problems with that. “Pivots are in the eye of the beholder, right, so, in Asia, people don’t see the pivot. And, in fact, I, in my travels there, people always say, consistently, you guys only talk about the pivot when you’re in our region. You don’t talk about the pivot when you’re like back in Washington,” he said. “It is an important point, that people, if they don’t perceive this to be a serious move, then it doesn’t achieve the desired result. And secondly, pivots imply that you’re leaving some other place. And so, the rest of the world wonders, am I the pivotee?” he observed.
Bush said he loves his brother and dad, admire their service to the nation but he has his own views shaped by his own thinking and own experiences. “My goal today is to explore how America can regain its leadership in the world and why that leadership is more necessary than ever. American leadership, projected consistently and grounded in principle, has been a benefit to the world,” Bush said. He also expressed concern over Obama administration’s policies towards Iran.
“We’ve had 35 years of experience with Iran’s rulers. They have attacked the US and American troops directly and through their surrogates. They have used terror as a tool of intimidation. Today, four world capitals are now heavily influenced by Iran and its proxies: Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, and Sanaa,” he said. He accused the Obama administration of shifting the goal in nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying “the administration no longer seeks to prevent nuclear enrichment. Now, it seeks merely to regulate it.”
“When he launched his negotiations, President Obama said that that was the goal: Stop Iran’s nuclear program. Now we’re told the goal has changed and the point of these negotiations isn’t to solve the problem, it’s to manage it,” he said. “Iran’s intent is clear. Its leaders have openly expressed a call for the annihilation of the state of Israel. This is an existential threat to Israel and to the world, including the US. We could face large-scale proliferation issues throughout the region if Iran has the ability to launch a nuclear weapon. Iran’s neighbors will want their own nuclear capability because of this existential threat,” he said.
“We reset with Russia, then it invades and subverts its neighbors. We see the new threats of cyber-warfare challenging our national security and our businesses. In Asia, territorial conflicts loom under the surface,” he said. “The great irony of the Obama presidency is this, someone who came to office, promising greater engagement with the world has left America less influential in the world. The work to restore America’s leadership in the world will take a concerted effort, the commitment of new leaders and a sure sense that America is often at its best when it’s tested. The United States has an undiminished ability to shape events and build alliances of free people,” he said.
“We can project power and enforce peaceful stability in far-off areas of the globe. To do so, I believe we need to root our foreign policy in a set of priorities and principles.Of course, we must look to the challenges of specific regions and nations. Each situation will require its own approach. But we must not lose sight of the bigger picture,” he said.
