Foreign pitfalls undercut Obama’s Asia pivot

FOREIGN PITFALLS UNDERCUT OBAMA’S ASIA PIVOT
For President Obama, even Beijing’s notoriously polluted air just might feel like a breath of spring. Unfortunately, as the president pivots away from the disastrous drubbing Democrats in the midterms, looking for cover in foreign affairs won’t bring much solace. The climate there isn’t much better overseas: a toxic mix of ISIS, Russian adventurism in Ukraine, Iran playing the U.S. for time on nukes, and China flexing its military clout in Asia only serve to highlight the pitfalls of Obama’s foreign policy. The president will be talking trade on his Asia swing – a topic expected to find common ground among Republicans in Congress – but as with his domestic policy travails a quick scan of news tells you there’s little Obama can point to bolster the reality of a weakened presidency, and global U.S. posture.

[“We are very concerned by intensified fighting in eastern Ukraine, as well as numerous reports…that Russian backed and supplied separatists are moving large convoys of heavy weapons and tanks to the front lines of the conflict.  We continue to call on all sides to strictly adhere to the cease-fire.” – From a White House statement Sunday on heavy fighting in Ukraine.]

Putin cozies up to China – WSJ: “As ties between Moscow and Washington have frayed over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, [Russian] President Vladimir Putin has turned to China. The Russian and Chinese leaders have strengthened their relationship in defiance of the U.S. as the West has tried to isolate Moscow with economic sanctions. They presided over the signing of a natural gas agreement earlier this year and have developed a personal relationship that [President Obama] has failed to achieve with either [Chinese President Xi Jinping] or Mr. Putin despite White House efforts. During his three-day stay in China, Mr. Obama will come face to face with Mr. Putin for the first time since June…”

[“The airstrikes have been very effective in degrading ISIL’s capabilities and slowing the advance that they were making. Now what we need is ground troops, Iraqi ground troops, that can start pushing them back. –President Obama on “Face the Nation.”]

Poor intel impedes strikes on ISIS – NYT: “More than three months into the American-led air campaign in Iraq and Syria, commanders are challenged by spotty intelligence, poor weather and an Iraqi Army that is only now starting to go on the offensive against the Islamic State, meaning that warplanes are mostly limited to hitting pop-up targets of opportunity…only one of every four strike missions — some 800 of 3,200 — dropped its weapons, according to the military’s Central Command. In Syria, the United States has a very limited ability to gather intelligence to help generate targets. Many Islamic State training compounds, headquarters, storage facilities and other fixed sites were struck in the early days of the bombing, but the military’s deliberate process for approving other targets has frustrated several commanders. In neither country are American commandos conducting raids on militant camps or safe houses, operations that in Afghanistan and in the Iraq war generated a continuous trove of information for additional missions.”

OBAMA DOUBLES DOWN ON GO-IT-ALONE IMMIGRATION THREAT
Fox News: “President Obama repeated Sunday that he intends to change U.S. immigration law through executive action, over Republican leaders’ repeated requests to wait and dire warnings about the consequences of sidestepping Congress. ‘I’m going to do what I need to do,’ Obama told CBS’ ‘Face the Nation,’ …‘If a bill gets passed, nobody would be happier than me,’ Obama said… ‘I believe [executive action] will hurt cooperation on every issue,’ Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told ‘Fox News Sunday.’ ‘I think it would be like the president pulling the pin out of a hand grenade and throwing it in as we are trying to actually work together. I am hoping that cooler heads at the White House can prevail.’’’

[“We got beat… And so whenever, as the head of the party, it doesn’t do well, I’ve got to take responsibility for it, The message that I took from this election, and we’ve seen this in a number of elections, successive elections, is people want to see this city work.” –President Obama on “Face the Nation.”]

Pen power could prompt budget battle – Republicans may have some ammunition to make a pre-emptive strike should the president take executive action on immigration, picking a fight before the deadline to pass a short-term spending bill. WSJ: “‘If the president really is serious about acting unilaterally on immigration, then it may be that we need to keep short-term funding mechanisms available to us in order to fight back,’ said Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R., S.C.)… It is unclear how many other Republicans will lobby their leaders to pick a fight before this year’s spending deadline or pass a short-term bill that extends into early 2015, when they will assume control of both chambers. House GOP leaders plan to discuss options with their rank-and-file at closed-door meetings this week.”

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