Blind and Stupid

Last week, in the midst of growing questions about the wisdom of a weak deal with Iran, John Kerry said: "“We aren’t blind, and I don’t think we’re stupid.”

That statement, more than any other comment made by this Secretary of State, sums up the Obama administration's self-absorbed view of itself. Thinking it has all the answers, the administration has conducted a foreign policy that has resulted in failure after failure (see this post for a short summary of Barack Obama's foreign policy). In countries like Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan, the administration has demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of the Middle Eastern cultural basis for negotiation—to wit, all deals reached by two parties are open to continuous interpretation, ongoing modification, and ultimate abrogation. Iran has demonstrated this cultural mindset not once or twice, but dozens of times since its Islamist thugs stormed our embassy in Tehran the 1979.

Acceptance of this view might be alright if John Kerry and company were negotiating a trade deal in which both parties wanted to import widgets, but it is completely unacceptable when the world's most active state sponsor or terror is negotiating an end to serious sanctions (first!) in return for a supposed stand down in their effort to develop a nuclear weapon.

Luckily, France—a country not known for it forward-leaning approach to international politics—has put on the brakes, recognizing that Obama's "deal" is anything but good news for the West and our few allies in the Middle East.

But John Kerry (3s and 2s) plods ever-onward. Sadly, "blind and stupid" sort of sums it all up.