On Obama's Foreign Policy Folly (Via: Oliver Kamm)

Obama's position is indeed an absurdity and not merely
an error. To be effective in diplomacy you need to be prepared to bargain, even
if tacitly, otherwise you remove the incentive of the other party to cooperate.
Diplomacy is about the attainment of ends and not merely the appearance of
comity.

It was said of the famously ineffectual Austen Chamberlain (till William Hague, the only Tory leader in the twentieth century not to become Prime Minister) that he always played the game and always lost it. America's friends abroad, and especially those of us on the Left, have grounds for worry that the Democrats may be adopting a similar approach in foreign affairs.

Update: Monday:

Quoted on Commentary's Contentions:

The trap Obama must not be caught in is one of excessive pessimism. Conditions now favor expeditious withdrawal more than they did only a few months ago. But the manner of withdrawal, its pace, and its concomitant diplomacy now require a different cast, and may require an even different one next February and March. None of this means that this war was not a mistake; it does suggest it need not in the medium term be a catastrophe. Petraeus deserves the lion’s share of the credit; luck and time and the self-defeating nihilism of the Jihadists have helped. But Bush and McCain equally merit points for pursuing the surge, even though the metrics pointed to failure. Obama needs to capitalize on these gains, not dismiss them.