Edit: First line corrected in response to comments
Randy Forbes, my congressman here in 4th congressional district in Virginia, released the following statement:
At a time when our allies across the globe continue to have questions about this Administration's commitment and competency, the United States' support for Israel should be unwavering. Instead, we see the White House prioritizing risky negotiations with a nuclear obsessed Iran over the concerns of a trusted ally, and Democratic Members of Congress playing into a partisan spectacle rather than respecting the longstanding relationship between our two countries. To allow the American commitment to the nation of Israel to be thus called into question is not only shortsighted, it is detrimental to security and U.S. interests in the region.
Forbes makes a pretty bold statement as he conflates our friendship of Israel with our trust in Bibi Netanyahu. We now know he lied about Iran's nuclear capabilities in 2012, when he used a stupid picture of a cartoon bomb to exaggerate how close Iran was to being a nuclear power. A leaked Mossad document shows that Netanyahu's lies contradicted information held by his nation's own intelligence agency. But of course Republicans support lying about military data in order to start wars, so I guess Netanyahu's lies only bolster Republican's affection for him.
It's also a pretty bold statement about allies across the globe having questions about this administration's commitment and competency. It was George Bush, after all, who invaded Iraq under false pretenses and squandered the international support we had gained after the September 11th attacks that he failed to protect us from. Obama actually raised international support back up from Bush's low. Peter Beinart's article in the Atlantic pointed to a Pew Research report (which has since been updated) that shows us that international attitudes towards the U.S. are positive, and much better than they were when Obama took office.
America’s image began to rally in some nations and to soar by the end of the decade following the election of Barack Obama, at least in Europe and parts of Asia and Latin America. After slipping a bit again in the first years of this decade, brand U.S. has stabilized and even recovered in a few nations in 2014.
So where are all those allies questioning this administration's commitment and competency?
The biggest decline in ratings for the U.S. is in Russia, where 71% now hold an unfavorable opinion.
Of course, Russia's not an ally, but the way Republicans have been
fawning over Putin lately, maybe Forbes is a little confused.
Pretty bold of Forbes to call into question Obama's commitment to our national security, since he just voted 'No' to even a one week stop-gap measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
Pretty bold to talk about the concerns of an ally when even Israelis are questioning the wisdom of his visit and about 200 members of Israeli's security community have voiced their opposition to it.
It's pretty bold to talk about partisan spectacles considering what a partisan spectacle it was for the Speaker of the House to breach protocol and Constitutional law by inviting a foreign leader into our Congress without notifying our President.
Considering all of those facts, it's not just bold, it's bizarre to suggest that it's un-American to boycott the inappropriate appearance in our nation's Congress of a foreign leader who has lied to us to influence our diplomatic and military strategies, and is risking the security of our nation and his own in a desperate attempt to shore up his slipping popularity just before an election. But then, lying and risking national security to bolster their popularity is what Republicans do, so I guess Randy Forbes is just towing the Republican line.