President Obama said during a nationally televised interview on “60 Minutes” on CBS News he didn’t think Hillary Clinton’s private email server was a threat to America’s security – that she simply made a mistake.
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Steve Kroft: If you were skeptical of the program to find and identify, train and equip moderate Syrians, why did you go through the program?
When Mr. Kroft told Mr. Obama that many people – including Israel, Saudi Arabia and congressional Republicans – believe the U.S.is in retreat under his presidency, the president blamed this charge on partisan politics and attacked Republicans for believing the only solution to Middle East instability is sending hundreds of thousands of troops. I think it is important for us to make sure that we explore all the various options that are available. So let’s – so – if you ask me big, open-ended questions, expect big, open-ended answers.
Indeed, he is. If by talk, he means run out the clock during an hour-long interview.
Obama said: “We don’t get an impression here that there was purposely efforts…to hide something or to squirrel away information”, he said, explaining Clinton’s set-up of a private server in her New York home to send secretary of state-related messages was different from those who’ve been caught in the past storing classified information on their personal computers.
“He’s challenging your leadership, Mr. President”, Kroft said, of Putin.
Steve Kroft: It’s an embarrassment.
Speaking with fill-in host Shannon Bream, Stirewalt kicked off his critique by pointing out that Obama’s poor performance was “made more awkward by the fact that the sort of number one Obama-nuzzler in the whole stable of Obama-nuzzlers” in Kroft was the very person who seemed to give him a hard time. Or, “If it had just started three months earlier it would’ve worked”.
Regarding Syria and ISIS, Kroft pointed out that it had already been a year since Obama announced military action in the region with little signs of progress.
Read the full transcript here.
It is clear that we have turned over control of the mid east to Russian Federation and their ally Iran. He nearly immediately shifted his language to argue that “the world” has long set a red line regarding triggers for intervention.
OBAMA: So that’s leading, Steve?
Obama’s response was revealing about how he sees the role of the United States as a global leader.
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It’s worth keeping in mind even (or maybe especially) recent history to get a sense of just how utterly failed Obama’s foreign policy has been in virtually every instance. Back in 2011, for example, in an address to the nation on his decision to use force in Libya, the president said “real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well; to work with allies and partners so that they bear their share of the burden and pay their share of the costs; and to see that the principles of justice and human dignity are upheld by all”.
