Our New Commander-in-Chief: kudos and criticism

Let's get this said right away: good on you for the action against the "pirates", Mr. President.

I have been very critical of the president in this blog, so I want it clear that I will also speak out when he does something RIGHT. Taking out the pirates with the action by the Navy SEALS was the right thing to do. And yes, I would still be saying this if it had not been the unqualified success that it was; you can't appease terrorists. I hope Mr. Obama keeps this in mind as he formulates his approaches to North Korea, Iran, Al Qaida, etc., although early signs are not encouraging in Iran, or North Korea.

But there is no question that his approach to the military in the US is different from his predecessor. It's reported that huge military funding cuts are in the works for the Pentagon. This in spite of constant denials during the campaign that he would follow this path. Using the economy as an excuse won't wash, especially when you are planning to give billions to the International Monetary Fund in a strategy that even bypasses congressional approval. That may be considered to be a plus by the majority of those who voted for him, but some of his actions vis a vis the military are starting to cause dismay amongst the people he commands.

I support the Constitution of these United States over and above any person, of any ideology, so I expect and applaud the US military for keeping any misgivings about their new commander-in-chief to themselves. But at the same time, they have an obligation to give him their best advice on how to move forward in addressing some of our challenges in foreign affairs, and the importance of keeping our enemies reticent to take threatening actions against US citizens. I don't believe in random acts, so when we see that Somali pirates, who have been active for years, decide to attack a US vessel for the first time in decades within months of the ascension of a president who has been as critical of his country as some of our "friends" have been over the last several years...well, it's not a surprise. At least he now always wears his flag pin, where before he proudly didn't.

While we can all rejoice at the release of Captain Phillips, we should also be sobered by the prospect that President Obama seems intent on backing off of earlier strong statements about challenging the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran. It sends a very bad signal at the time when the action against the Somalis could have been leveraged with very little risk. This kind of precision action reminds the rest of the world's bad guys that they might think twice about messing with the USA. Perhaps that worked better coming from a Texan, but when the bullets are flying, even liberals from San Francisco want a Texan in the foxhole with them. The world is now our foxhole, and we need to make sure our "Texans" have the munitions they need to keep the bad guys in check.

The fact of the matter is that the quiet word has gone out that the president is not happy that the response of his visits to military bases has been less enthusiastic than say, German citizens in Berlin. Perhaps they continue to respect their former C-I-C because he at least recognized the need to not criticize those who have to inhabit that office. It's nice to see George W. Bush remain classy towards Obama, even if Obama isn't classy in return.
Few of us knew that in preparation for his "unannounced" visit to Baghdad, his advance people decided to ensure that the world's media saw a president beloved by the men he commands, even if it took some behind the scenes deceit to achieve a "candid" moment.

This smacks of the kind of "photo-op" worthy of North Vietnamese portrayals of "humane treatment" of "American war criminals" during their captivity in North Vietnam. John McCain has been back to Hanoi several times, and while he has forgiven, he has not forgotten the conflict between the mirage and the reality of life in captivity.

It's unfortunate that the president's people felt that it was necessary to pre-screen his "loving troops" in this way. It would have been better if he had asked himself WHY the troops were less than thrilled about their commander's visit. But then that would require taking positive lessons from Bush's example. And that would be a reversal from the Bush-bashing policy that began with his inauguration.