WhatFinger


Just as Russian belligerence intensifies.

Obama refuses to meet with new NATO secretary general



It seems like it was just yesterday that we were discussing Obama's little snit about our ally Israel giving information to our own Congress about his secret talks with our enemy Iran. The guy just wants to be left alone to deal with our enemies, you know what I mean?
And the last thing he needs is the pesky leader of the world's largest alliance of free nations, of which we are supposed to be the most important member, expecting any of his time. Sorry, NATO. You don't make the King's priority list:
President Barack Obama reportedly will not meet with NATO's new secretary general when he is in Washington this week, despite requests from the alliance chief's staff for a get-together. Bloomberg View reported Tuesday that Jens Stoltenberg's office requested a meeting with Obama in advance of his scheduled visit, but did not receive any response from the White House. Instead, Bloomberg View reported that Stoltenberg had to settle for a last-minute meeting with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. Stoltenberg is scheduled to be in Washington through Thursday, primarily so he can attend a strategic brainstorming session involving military officials and experts from the U.S and NATO. Stoltenberg, who replaced Anders Fogh Rasmussen as head of the world's largest military alliance in October, was able to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Monday, the day before Harper announced that Canada would expand its participation in the U.S.-led military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

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The report of Obama's snub comes amid Russia's growing willingness to test NATO's military readiness. On Tuesday, NATO jets were scrambled after four Russian military planes were spotted flying over the Baltic Sea with their transponders turned off. Over the weekend, a Danish newspaper published remarks by the Russian ambassador to Denmark in which he hinted that Russian missiles could target Danish warships if Copenhagen joins NATO's missile defense system. Now for those of you who might be inclined to defend Obama by pointing out that, hey, the president of the United States is very busy and there might be things he considers worthy but just doesn't have time for. Yes. I get that. It is possible. But when that's the way the president views the situation, the person making the request at least gets some sort of response from the White House. Sorry, it might not be possible to do an in-person meeting with the president, but you are very important and the issues you need to discuss with us are very important. Let's work together to make something worthwhile happen. That's the message you send, and you send it immediately. He's not some schlep. He's the secretary general of NATO for God's sakes. When his outreach to you is met with no reply whatsoever, the message is clearly and unmistakably: Don't bother us. We don't have time for you and we're not going to make time for you. Go away. Then again, he has time to play golf, go on Jimmy Fallon, go on Between Two Ferns, play around with a selfie stick, meet with the woman who took a bath in Froot Loops . . . seems he makes time for the things that really matter to him. This guy's complete disregard for the allies America needs in the world is astonishing. If he's not insulting the British, he's threatening the Israelis. If he's not welching on a commitment to install missile shields in Poland and the Czech Republic, he's blowing off the head of NATO. But he'll meet secretly with Iran. And he'll promise flexibility to the Russians as soon as he gets past that pesky election. Obama is either the most inept head of state in the history of the world, or he is truly on the side of our enemies. And on any given day, I am honestly not sure which one it is.


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Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

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