by Newt Gingrich
Dear Fellow Conservative,
President Obama's apologies keep getting more outrageous and more
destructive.
They started in the summer of 2008, before he was even elected
president. Then-Senator Obama travelled to Berlin to introduce himself
as "a citizen of the world," and said, "I know my country has not
perfected itself…We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times
when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best
intentions."
Next came the Apology Tour of 2009, when President Obama travelled to
France to apologize for our "failure to appreciate Europe's leading
role in the world," saying "America has shown arrogance and been
dismissive, even derisive." (It's hard to know where to begin with
that one.)
He told the Turkish Parliament that "the United States is still
working through some of our own darker periods in our history."
He apologized to Central and South America for the United States
having "at times been disengaged and…having sought to dictate on our
terms."
In Cairo, he explained American actions after the Sept. 11 Attacks by
saying, "The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but
in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our ideals," and said
tensions between the U.S. and Muslim world were due in part to "a cold
war in which Muslim-majority countries were often treated as proxies
without regard to their own aspirations."
An illegally leaked diplomatic cable from Japan to the U.S. even seems
to suggest President Obama wanted to visit Hiroshima to apologize for
the atomic bombing during World War II, until Japan nixed the idea.
For all this apologizing the president was rewarded with a Nobel Peace
Prize, but his actions weakened the United States diplomatically and
made America less secure.
As damaging as President Obama's compulsion to apologize has been,
however, it was not until last week that we saw its true potential to
put American lives and military objectives at risk. By apologizing
unnecessarily to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the inadvertent
burning by U.S. forces of Korans which had been confiscated from
imprisoned extremists, the president made the situation in Afghanistan
even worse.
Apparently the prisoners were writing in the books—and the books were
inadvertently burned with the military's trash outside Bagram Air
Base, where they were spotted during the incineration process by local
Afghans.
The violence that has erupted in Afghanistan in response to this
mishap has been completely disproportionate. Riots and protests across
the country have resulted in more than 30 people killed and hundreds
injured. At least four Americans have died in targeted attacks since
the crisis began. In one incident, an Afghan official apparently
murdered his counterparts in the U.S. military, inside a base.
Instead of the United States treating this issue as it was—an
accident, not reflective of any American policy or attitude—our
leaders behaved as though the protests were based on a legitimate
grievance. Afghanistan received apologies from "Afghanistan commander
Gen. John Allen, the White House, NATO's International Security
Assistance Force and other Pentagon officials," as Fox News reported.
The United States apologized for this accidental disposal even though
the military intentionally burned a significant number of Bibles in
2009 that had been sent unsolicited from an American church, on the
fear that "if they did get out, it could be perceived by Afghans that
the U.S. government or the U.S. military was trying to convert
Muslim." Clearly there's no endemic lack of sensitivity in the
military leadership.
Yet finally, on Thursday, President Obama apparently could resist no
longer. He wrote President Karzai a letter in which he expressed his
"deep regret," offered his "sincere apologies," and promised to "take
appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, to include holding
accountable those responsible."
Tens of thousands of American men and women are in Afghanistan
fighting to maintain security and prop up President Karzai's
government. Thousands of American and coalition troops have died. Four
have been killed as a result of the protests. And President Obama is
promising to "hold accountable those responsible" for the
unintentional burning of a few books prisoners were themselves
desecrating to pass messages.
The president's letter is outrageous, and he first owes an apology to
the men and women in uniform for his failure as commander-in-chief to
defend their honor. What's worse, he may have made their jobs even
more dangerous. By apologizing he inflamed the sense that Afghans had
been wronged and gave anti-American forces there the message that
their violent, senseless protests were achieving something. It might
come as a surprise to the president, but not all of his apologies win
people over. Most of the time, they just make America look weak.
There's no doubt that President Obama has a lot to apologize for. But
before he continues diminishing the United States on the world stage,
he should start by apologizing to the American people.
Your Friend,
q
Newt
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