Week 6 - President Obama at Omaha Beach

In anticipation of President Obama’s June 6 speech at Omaha Beach, New York Times columnist, Roger Cohen, wrote an interesting Op-Ed on June 5, 2014, evaluating the president on his foreign policy. Cohen then takes it a step further and ponders how Obama would have handled the presidency during the Normandy invasion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/opinion/cohen-obama-at-omaha.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

Cohen first describes what he expects from a US president: “Any American leader must embody the nation’s commitment to the spread of liberty, the defense of allies and the sanctity of the American ‘red lines’ that are the guarantors of global security.” Then Cohen assesses President Obama based on that standard. Cohen outlines why he believes that the president falls short with regard to Syria, Egypt, Crimea, and Eastern Ukraine.

Cohen then makes the great leap of surmising how Obama would have done as president with regard to being Commander in Chief during the time of the Omaha Beach amphibious assault. Cohen concludes his Op-Ed: “Obama would argue he is a realist adapting to a changed world in the wake of two taxing wars. He has a point. But realism did not win the day at Omaha. No realist would have attempted such impossible landings. If he takes one lesson away from the beaches for the remainder of his presidency, it should be that.”

Here is my critique of Cohen’s piece:

 First, while Cohen uses the terms realist” and “realism,” he is not using it in the sense that international relations professionals would use those words. He is using it more in a political commentary sense.

Second, it is almost impossible to compare World War II where Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Hitler declared war on the United States to decisions to intervene in Syria and Crimea. It is apples and oranges. World War II was the ultimate good war. Germany and Japan were clearly the aggressors, and both of those countries displayed barbaric and inhumane behavior. The liberation of Europe was vital to the United States and its allies. The internal strife in Syria and Egypt is tragic, but clearly not vital to US national security interests.