Obama: "We are going to take a new approach"

Obama stated on ABC's This Week that he would meet with our enemies “without precondition.” With this shift he has moved U.S. interests into a position of weakness. Our enemies are quick to take advantage of his weakness: Hassan Qashqavi, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, stated “We are willing to talk to them directly and give them a clear choice and ultimately let them make a determination in terms of whether they want to do this the hard way or the easy way.” Qashqavi's tone is clear; they want to set the agenda of the meeting, they want to dictate to us what our choices are. In addition, the Iranian Vice President for Media Affairs Mehdi Kalhor said that Iran has set two preconditions for holding talks with the U.S. “(A)s long as U.S. forces have not left the Middle East region and continues its support for the Zionist regime, talks between Iran and U.S. is off the agenda.” The two statements form a cohesive whole indicating who is in control. Obama has unilaterally shifted the power base of the region from our allies to our enemies by allowing the United States to weaken its approach to talks and negotiations.

One of the main tenants of Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” is, “the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed by him.”

Obama does not grasp the wisdom of Sun Tzu.

During the Presidential debates, Obama tried to obviate his policy by stating what he really meant, was "preparation," rather than precondition.

Now, of course, he does not have a maverick challenging him in a debate, and Obama's policy is clear. He is now back to his real weakness as a negotiator, he legitimizes the position of America's enemies.

The best case scenario Americans can hope for, given Obama's deficiencies, is that
Hillary can take a harder, more realistic line, since she is more savvy and experienced in global affairs.