SILOAM SPRINGS — After his address to the United Nations last week, I hope that PresidentObama's apology tour is finally over.

Shortly after his inauguration, President Obama went to Europe, then the Middle East, then to South America, and finally to the United Nations.

At every stop along the way, he offered an apology for some grievous act, real or imagined, perpetrated by this great country.

Since he has now had a chance to blame America first while speaking to nearly every country in the universe and to convince them that he is not George W. Bush, I hope it is over.

He has certainly convinced third world dictators like Moammar Gadhafi, Hugo Chavez and many of his buddies at the UN that he is their friend.

Gadhafi said that he hoped Obama would be president for life when he rambled on at the UN. Chavez boasted that the podium Obama spoke from before he did, did not have the odor of sulfur as it did when President Bush spoke to the UN two years ago.

While the president personally gained these new friends he managed to alienate trusted allies, Poland and the Chez Republic, when he cancelled the missile shield Bush had planned for defense against Iran's potential threat to us and our allies.

Why did we do it?

He gave up the missile defense system to appease the Russians, and so far, we've gotten nothing for it.

Oops, I forgot! Russia's Medvedev said he would cancel his anti-anti-missile system they were going to build to counter our system.

Big deal. The Ruskies are so broke that they can't afford to put firecrackers on the borders to scare us. Even silver-tongued Vice President Joe Biden said so.

Just wait until we sponsor tougher sanctions against Iran.

The Russians will find a way to punt because they are selling nuclear technology to Iran along with anti-aircraft missiles.

And the Chinese will not back sanctions because Obama slapped tariffs on cheap Chinese tire imports to mollify his union buddies.

So, we have given up a valuable defensive position, upset two allies, discarded an important negotiating chip and gotten absolutely nothing in return.

The president seems oblivious to our recent history with the Russians.

He must have been too busy at community organizing to realize that when former President Ronald Reagan promised "Star Wars" we had none of the technology needed to implement it. But Reagan used it as a threat to the USSR, and they went broke trying to figure out a way to defend against it.

Of course, Chernobyl and unrest in the neighboring countries that hated the Russians had something to do with ending the cold war. But Reagan coupled "Star Wars" with re-building our military forces that had been depleted under the inept Jimmy Carter.

That combination sealed the fate of the Soviets, and the Iron curtain was shredded and torn down along with the Berlin Wall.

Hurry-up and wait

The message to Gen.

Stanley McChrystal is "hurry-up and wait!" Obama dispatched him to Afghanistan about 6 months ago to put together a new war plan. McChrystal has now given the plan to the president and the Pentagon.

Don't you find it a bit strange that the Presidentand the Democrats claimed that approving certain laws without reading them or debating them was crucial to the survival of our economy?

Some of them were more than 1,000 pages. Among them were the Omnibus Spending Bill with more than 8,600 earmarks and the less-than-stimulating $787 billion stimulus package.

Yet, when his hand picked military commander submits a 66-page report outlining the crucial steps needed to win the war in Afghanistan, the president needs more time to read it and study it.

Meanwhile, the best of our best young men and women are in harms way, putting their lives on theline every day, while he is busy selling ObamaCare and apologizing to the U.N.

About two years ago, the brilliant war strategist Hillary Clinton told Gen.

David Petraeus "... it would take a willing suspension of disbelief," as she challenged his strategy to implement what has turned out to be an amazingly successful "surge" in Iraq.

Since she has not recanted her wrong-headedness, I wonder if she has given a similar insightful appraisal to the president on the Mc-Chrystal plan?

I opine, you decide.

- Willie Williams is a Siloam Springs resident.

He can be reached a t bryjwil@yahoo.com.

Opinion, Pages 4, 5 on 09/30/2009

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