Smart Power II: Faulty reset button
posted at 10:12 am on April 16, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Six weeks ago, Hillary Clinton gave Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a present — a big red button that was supposed to say “Reset” in Russian, but which actually said “Overcharge” … in Latin script, no less. Lavrov laughed at Hillary’s gesture, meant to symbolize a major change in direction for the Russo-American relationship. Apparently, Lavrov’s still laughing at Hillary as he publicly insists that Russia will never increase pressure on Iran to stop building nukes:
Moscow says it would gladly hit the reset button on relations with Washington, but warns that it would never double-cross Tehran.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stood firm on Moscow’s relations with Tehran on Saturday, asserting that it would never agree to increase pressure on Iran.
“It’s our neighbor, it’s a country which can play a very important role in solving a number of acute international issues, such as the situation in Afghanistan, Iraq and different aspects of Mideast peace settlement,” Lavrov in a speech to a group of political strategists.
Lavrov waved aside recent US attempts to use a controversial missile shield as a means to buy Moscow’s support for tougher sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“Any trade-offs would be unprincipled and unrealistic,” he explained. “They would undermine trust in our diplomacy, and we cherish that trust no less than others.”
Remember how Team Obama claimed that it would have more success in pursuing the American agenda through “smart power” than through George Bush’s supposed arrogance on the world stage? They’ve not quite made it to 90 days yet, and so far Russia has cut off our supply lines through Kyrgyzstan, announced its intention to start building new nuclear weapons, has reneged on its commitment to pull troops out of Georgia, and now has given the US the finger on Iran. That’s an impressive list of foreign-policy setbacks for an entire term in office, let alone less than three months.
Russia took the measure of US diplomacy and decided that “smart power” meant “paper tiger”. Moscow has spent the last three months testing us, and so far, we have not responded at all. Hillary tweaked Barack Obama for only bringing a speech to office as experience compared to her “lifetime” on the world stage, but as it turns out, both of them are equally bad at this business.
That button worked … for Russia. Instead of “overcharge,” though, I think it actually meant “overrated.”
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Team Obama is neither “Smart” or “Powerful”
What a bunch of wankers
izoneguy on April 16, 2009 at 10:15 AM
We’re the only world power light weights on the planet.
hawkdriver on April 16, 2009 at 10:16 AM
The world is laughing at Ogabe and America; except the MSM and the American drones who watch the MSM.
Obama voters: clinging to their secularism and liberal white guilt.
ex-Democrat on April 16, 2009 at 10:16 AM
Back to banging my head
Wee.
blatantblue on April 16, 2009 at 10:16 AM
I believe they are missing a key ingredient.
Vashta.Nerada on April 16, 2009 at 10:16 AM
We got all these mujahids running around blowing up Shiite, hijacking boats, ayat’ullahs trying to get new-klee-er weapons
And we have this group of foolish suckaz as our defense.
blatantblue on April 16, 2009 at 10:19 AM
You really should invest in some type of protective headgear!!
Tom
marinetbryant on April 16, 2009 at 10:20 AM
RESET
Obama focus NSA spy efforts in American homes.
Caught red-handed, “WHEN inadvertent mistakes are made” Obama’s Justice Dept. covers its ass claiming resolution.
maverick muse on April 16, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Just as in the ’30s, westerners confuse non-confrontation with peace. Non-confrontation leads to war. But once again, that lesson will be revisited. This time, however, it will precipitate the end of the world.
keep the change on April 16, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Dear leader: “This presidenting is hard work.”
rbj on April 16, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Look Ed, I got to tell you – these posting are not going to sway anyone on the Liberal side.
You use facts. You know that puts them at a great disadvantage.
kybowexar on April 16, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Loved the understatement…
Bravo!
kybowexar on April 16, 2009 at 10:23 AM
I am amazed. They totally ignore what is going on in t heir own country, march forward with their agenda and fully succeed in 90 days in ramping up world unrest.
WTF are they doing? At this rate they are going to have multiple situations coming to a head by the 4th of July and no idea how to handle any of them.
ORconservative on April 16, 2009 at 10:23 AM
The Obama-nation keeps talking of Bush’s supposed arrogance, but their real arrogance and incompetence are destroying our standing in the world and our economy at home.
JOHNNYB on April 16, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Liberals sure love using the sheep doctrine while
dealing with wolves!
And,the thugs know Hopey is governing using the
Neville Chamberlain policy of words on a paper!!
canopfor on April 16, 2009 at 10:27 AM
it really has been amateur hour when it comes to our foreign policy. while i may have considered Bush’s tendencies to be a bit rough around the edges…and his advisors analysis of trends to be a bit off…and i NEVER thought id say this…but i miss Bush. at least foreign policy wise…cuz this new admin is a joke. a joke i tell you.
ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Of course, Russia and China have oil interests in Iran but there are other issues that they will help.
getalife on April 16, 2009 at 10:32 AM
O that darned Dan Quayle! Did you hear what he said? That darned Dan Quayle.
Akzed on April 16, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Remember folks, the adults are in charge now.
*smirk*
rightside on April 16, 2009 at 10:34 AM
The arrogance will kill us. Throwing Hillary into that situation is a joke. ZERO experience. Like Obama, charm and going to a good law school doesn’t prepare you for technical matters in the real world.
marklmail on April 16, 2009 at 10:37 AM
To give Hillary credit, she marches to the tune of a lesser drummer.
unclesmrgol on April 16, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Russia has plenty of it’s own oil, idiot. It’s not about oil, it’s about world domination.
Go read a history book.
fogw on April 16, 2009 at 10:39 AM
not if our foreign policy apparatus can’t identify realistic lines of dialogue and cooperation. if they dont learn from their mistakes early we’re in trouble. that said, they can still learn. they can learn that it may not be advisable to go to the russians with carrots and no sticks.
ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 10:39 AM
i think you mean natural gas. while they may have oil, its the ng that they have in abundance…and as for world domination? please, thats so 80’s.
ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 10:41 AM
Only 3 3/4 years left. I’m sure the rest of the time they’ll do much better.
I’m glad I don’t live in a major metropolitan center, though. With all this “soft power” we’re liable to have some much harder power delivered right to our doorstep.
hawksruleva on April 16, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Mid Terms my friends – Mid Terms
God I hope some credible men and women run for office in the Mid Terms.
jake-the-goose on April 16, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Name one……..
Seven Percent Solution on April 16, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Don’t worry! The adults are in charge!
Getaclue says so.
/scar
ladyingray on April 16, 2009 at 10:47 AM
/sarc
my self edit button died
ladyingray on April 16, 2009 at 10:47 AM
72 billion barrels of oil reserves is not chump change. If you think that is their end game you are as foolish as Obama and Clinton.
As for world domination, may be a bit over the top in my assertion. How’s this …… the destruction of the United States of America? The Ruskies still have a nuclear arsenal that could eradicate us, and if Obama continues with his silly foreign policy, he will strip us of our ICBMs, while the Ruskies play a shell game with theirs.
Get Real.
fogw on April 16, 2009 at 10:53 AM
Nothing wrong with secularism.
Libertarian Joseph on April 16, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Amateurish stooges. What an embarrassment, and more importantly, what a danger. These idiots just don’t get it. Do they really believe that America is hated because we’re mean, when they themselves incite class warfare against the “rich”? They (meaning both our enemies and O’boingo and his merry band of f-ups) won’t be happy until all Americans (except them, and their favored victim groups, of course), live in tin-and-cardboard shanties just like the best Africa has to offer.
mr.blacksheep on April 16, 2009 at 10:57 AM
The red button debacle was a monumental mistake and incredibly naive and stupid.
CP on April 16, 2009 at 11:00 AM
can right wing extremists comment on foreign affairs? if so, then may I say that bambi & hillary know zero about the history & culture of some of these foreign hotspots.
if their protocol offices couldn’t get their mess together, then the real policy guys are surely lost.
kelley in virginia on April 16, 2009 at 11:00 AM
That’s an impressive list of foreign-policy setbacks for an entire term in office, let alone less than three months.
Just wait, they’ve got more than 3 years to go. And Russia is just the tip of the iceberg. You’ll notice how well they’re also doing with the NOK’s, Pakistan and Iran. Obama will be surrendering in Mexico this week.
GarandFan on April 16, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Well, look at it this way, blacksheep, if we all live in cardboard boxes, no one will have to waste a nuke on us and all the illiegals will go home :)
ORconservative on April 16, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Which ally/friend invaded/struck first?
1. Israel by Iran
2. Taiwan by China
3. Poland by Russia
4. South Korea by North Korea
5. Japan by North Korea
6. Other, explain
As the media has completely given up its former function as Fourth Estate, people are actually going to be surprised when it happens. And somehow it will be Bush’s fault.
Beagle on April 16, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Just wait ’til we have to face the rising menace that is Lichtenstein. I bet no one in the gov’t even speaks Lichtensteinian. So, then what are we going to do?
/sarc
CP on April 16, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Ever get that “someday we’re going to be invaded and taken over” feeling?
scalleywag on April 16, 2009 at 11:27 AM
I almost think we have to go on an economic revolt. buy up some of these companies, throw the boards out. Like GE who owns NBC, and some of the other crooked media outlets.
marklmail on April 16, 2009 at 11:33 AM
I’m trying to remain calm here. Help me out, will ya?
Oh yes. After all, greed, power, & lust for power by dominating powerful countries, taking their stuff, etc is so archaic of an idea no body thinks about it anymore.
Russia just wants everyone to love them, that’s why they want to build more nukes & flex their muscles again.
If we just talk to them & listen to their feelings, this will all go away.
After all, Stalin was sooooo 40’s & ’50s!
Badger40 on April 16, 2009 at 11:35 AM
BTW-the former Soviet Union has a ton of natural resources that have not even been close to becoming fully developed.
Timber
Uranium
Precious metals
oil
natural gas
the list goes on…..
They could easily become a world dominating power if they could just get their $hit together & stop breeding themselves out of existence with their – pop. growth rate.
China is all about the same stuff as Russia is.
They don’t wanna be 2nd fiddle to anyone.
These kinds of power struggles NEVER end. Enemies remain enemies-they only lie in wait for the next opportunity.
Keep your enemies close?
Badger40 on April 16, 2009 at 11:38 AM
Yeah, after that Gordon Brown fiasco, the i-pod with the speeches, and the “touching” of the Queen, I thought she would order a take-over and kidnap Obama right on the spot. Then she would hold him for ransom and no body would pay because we are broke. She could hold both of them in the Tower. Apparently she wasn’t THAT offended. Too bad, I was.
BetseyRoss on April 16, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Orwell famously noted that the pacifists of the 1930s-early 1940s were “objectively pro-fascist” because they tempted the fascists to grasp for more and more. Well, “lessons of history…” yadda yadda.
If there are any little islands in the South China Sea held by Taiwan but contested by China, I’d be nervous. China’s oil buddy Sudan? Nothing will happen to Bashir on Obama’s watch. Another campaign promise bites the dust. At least the Bush Administration called it a genocide and tried to rally international support for action.
China is funding the Great Obama Society of Deficit Spending, so they’ll probably test us pretty soon. I’ll bet they perceive a green light.
Beagle on April 16, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Maybe it was an “easy” button from staples, which they will push after they do whatever they want, because we are a self proclaimed and by action a country of cowards.
What has our country come to, what a shame.
workingforpigs on April 16, 2009 at 11:49 AM
I just left a wonderful assignment in Monterey, California, home of the Defense Language Institute. I know hundreds of young men and women, each making between $1400 and $1650 a month (pre-tax), only months into their basic Russian course, who could have translated and written RESET better than the State Department gonks who managed this travesty. And those geniuses are making double what these young patriots are. What’s more, 92% of these military men and women don’t even qualify to apply for a State Department job because of their lack of a bachelor’s degree. But they’re the threat to our security.
(What’s that? Lack three issues in one response? Not too bad.)
mjtyson on April 16, 2009 at 11:50 AM
As Lavrov, and Medvedev, and Putin, among others, understand fully…the only “smart power” is real power. And the willingness to use it.
coldwarrior on April 16, 2009 at 11:51 AM
oh your choices, only 1 is even remotely realistic, and thats the Iranian/Israeli thing. that said, if i were to believe the Israeli assumptions, Iran should’ve been lobbing nukes all over the place say…8 years ago.
not saying they aren’t getting closer…just that the sky has been falling for some time now, and the buck was passed from a supposedly strong leader to a supposedly weak one. why blame the weak one for not solving all the problems? what about the “strong” one that passed the buck?
ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 11:51 AM
Best assignment I ever had…
And your points are 100% valid.
coldwarrior on April 16, 2009 at 11:53 AM
ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 11:51 AM
You are amazingly uncreative and uninformed.
Russia has threatened to nuke Poland within the last year and North Korea just shot a missile over Japan.
Beagle on April 16, 2009 at 11:57 AM
I guess I have to spell it out: “strike” can be nontraditional: economic, cyber, covert operations. Look for Russia to install Russia-friendly governments all over their ‘former’ “sphere of influence” now that we’re obviously not in the game.
Beagle on April 16, 2009 at 12:13 PM
This part is especially interesting to me, in that it exposes to Ahmedinejad that some sort of “back-room deal” was being cut – putting to lie the “open-hand” diplomacy with Tehran that Obama promised.
Putin plays cut-throat.
Otis B on April 16, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Saakashvili is currently in this pickle, as the people protest his government and the Russians build-up forces in South Ossetia to “offset internal dissent.”
The game is afoot!
Otis B on April 16, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Boy, who knew that the recet button reset us all the way back to 1978! What a cool trick!
crazy_legs on April 16, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Obama the beta male has turned a former hyperpower into a beta nation.
Cicero43 on April 16, 2009 at 12:32 PM
Your shortsightedness is disheartening.
Status quo would have been good enough for me. These blunders reveal Obama as weak, regardless of what went before. And the world will take advantage of that weakness.
Otis B on April 16, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Austin Power’s pimp-mobile was busy…
ladyingray on April 16, 2009 at 1:25 PM
Where are you getting the “tiger” part of that?
Count to 10 on April 16, 2009 at 2:20 PM
Einstein though the cosmological constant was his biggest blunder. He was wrong.
His biggest blunder was “one cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.”
The truth is, one cannot prevent a war without preparing for it.
Count to 10 on April 16, 2009 at 2:23 PM
Hillary was only qualified when compared to the naif, Obama. The truth is that the two Democratic finalists in their primaries were also two of the most under-qualified major candidates in decades.
irishspy on April 16, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Now the Russians are teaching us about trust and principles, refusing to sell out their allies– following Barry’s offer to sell out ours.
Hey, but at least our would-be allies now know better than to trust us!
obladioblada on April 16, 2009 at 5:36 PM
It is time to read Orwell’s 1984. Also I recommend another book – “Homage to Catalonia”. It might help to understand some of the situations that existed in the 1930s, especially the Spanish Civil War.
The reset button stunt was so totally stupid. It was like a green light to the Russians to go ahead and build their alliances all over the world.
It would seem that Obummer and Clinton are oblivious to the fact that Putin was a former KGB spy.
maggieo on April 16, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Ernesto you know very little about world situations where China is concerned.
China wants Taiwan. The controversy in Australia regarding Fitzgibbon and Mme Liu is really tied to China wanting Taiwan. Helen Liu is in charge of an association for the reunification of China – it is sponsored by the Chinese government and Liu is just a front.
China will take Taiwan by force if necessary, and Obama is in the process of leaving the Taiwanese high and dry. Do some reading on the history of China, and the takeover by Mao. The previous government actually fled to Taiwan.
maggieo on April 16, 2009 at 10:32 PM
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