Senator Obama's Double Vision

I recently read Senator Barack Obama's (D - Illinois) prepared remarks for his speech at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The Senator tries to communicate a sense of his vision for the U.S. and the World. To my reading, it is double-vision.

The senator starts off his speech with this:

Good morning. We all know that these are not the best of times for America's reputation in the world. We know what the war in Iraq has cost us in lives and treasure, in influence and respect. We have seen the consequences of a foreign policy based on a flawed ideology, and a belief that tough talk can replace real strength and vision.

Many around the world are disappointed with our actions. And many in our own country have come to doubt either our wisdom or our capacity to shape events beyond our borders. Some have even suggested that America's time has passed.

But he then commences to argue with himself (about five sentnces later) when he states:

And along the crowded streets of Kenya, I met throngs of children who asked if they'd ever get the chance to visit that magical place called America.

So which is it Senator? Is a America a reviled evil empire or a magical place that children dream about? The Senator's entire argument about America's standing in the world vaporizes by his own testimony of what he has seen and heard in Kenya.

The Senator's double vision continues with these quotes:

At a camp along the border of Chad and Darfur, refugees begged for America to step in and help stop the genocide that has taken their mothers and fathers, sons and daughters.

I argued that there can be no military solution to what has become a political conflict between Sunni and Shi'a factions. And I laid out a plan that I still believe offers the best chance of pressuring these warring factions toward a political settlement - a phased withdrawal of American forces with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31st, 2008.

Well there it is again, that dreaded falsehood "there is no military solution in Iraq (see my post Sunday, April 15, 2007: The Military Solution in Iraq). But more to the point here, the Senator advocates intervening in a civil war in Darfur while extricating ourselves from Iraq. Come on Senator Obama, you know there is no military solution in Darfur.

More double vision from the Senator:

Of course, how we use our armed forces matters just as much as how they are prepared.

No President should ever hesitate to use force - unilaterally if necessary - to protect ourselves and our vital interests when we are attacked or imminently threatened. But when we use force in situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to garner the clear support and participation of others - the kind of burden-sharing and support President George H.W. Bush mustered before he launched Operation Desert Storm.

Astounding. If we gain the "clear support and participation" of others we can attack whoever we want for whatever reason. But, you only go alone if it is self-defense. So Senator, do we need to have a coalition to go into Darfur? Is defense of others not reason to act immediately and unilaterally?

The Senator clearly has double-vision. The reason is that his policies and perspective are uninformed by well thought out principles. One principle the Senator should internalize: That which is legitimate when done by a group, cannot be illegitimate when done alone (my apologies the member of parliament in the U.K. whom I paraphrase). That is to say, an action is legitimate based on its merits, not based on the number of people participating in it.