{mosads}Let me explain. First of all, it’s a rare occasion when the President or one his flacks says anything without throwing in “We got Bin Laden.” And that’s a very good thing. But is there any doubt that a President McCain or a President Romney would have made the same decision under the same circumstances? Of course not.

Another example. Our closest ally in the Middle East for decades has been Israel. So what does Obama do? He has publicly distanced himself from Israel, and with all of his world travel, he’s been there a total of – ZERO times.

On the other hand, Obama, right out of the box, cozied up to our most dangerous rival in the region – Iran. Then Obama stood by silently while Iranian tyrants stole the election in 2009, and thousands of innocent protestors were brutalized, raped, and murdered in the streets.  And Obama’s olive branch to Iran’s mullahs has gotten him nowhere – Iran is now closer to obtaining nuclear weapons capability than ever before.

In Syria, Bashar Al-Assad continues to mow down innocent civilians with impunity, and what we get from President Obama is – platitudes.

The administration’s mishandling of Egypt has been breathtaking. After wavering, waffling, and ultimately abandoning Mubarak (much to the chagrin of our important ally Saudi Arabia), we are now witnessing a previously pro-American Egypt turning to a Muslim Brotherhood government. This could have potentially disastrous consequences to Israel and the United States.

In Iraq, after the U.S. has sacrificed so much, Obama precipitously pulled out virtually all U.S. military forces, thus risking all our gains. And filling the vacuum in Iraq is now likely to be Iraq’s neighbor, our own nemesis, Iran.

The rush for the door in Iraq is, to a considerable degree, being repeated in Afghanistan, where it’s quite likely that rather than stability and a reliable U.S. ally, we’ll see the Taliban back in power.

Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time low, despite caving in to Russian pressure to abandon our commitments to missile defense sites in loyal U.S. allies Poland and the Czech Republic.

China is dramatically ramping up its military capabilities, as Obama cuts our own. Hugo Chavez continues to go unchecked in Venezuela. The Mexican drug wars are spiraling out of control. And on and on.

Barack Obama, a pretty good foreign policy president? Hardly.

Chabot is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.