Remember Dickens: “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

That’s pretty much what we saw on the national security front last week. 

Here is the worst: White House “soft power,” struck out twice last week.

First, despite offering Russia everything under the sun from scrapping missile defenses in Western Europe to restarting comprehensive nuclear talks. In return, the Russians responded by giving the U.S. – nothing. Russian diplomats confirm that Moscow will offer concessions to the U.S. for bailing on its promise to put missile interceptors in Poland that could defend both our bases and allies in Europe and the United States homeland against an Iranian missile threat. To make matters worse, Russia refuses to support stiffer sanctions against Iran to keep the mullahs from getting an “A” bomb. Heritage analysts long ago concluded that caving into the Russians would be a mistake. They argue Congress should push back on the plan, concluding “such actions would represent an accommodation of Russian demands and the shameful appeasement of an increasingly aggressive regime[.]“

Second, the Obama administration’s offer to negotiate directly with Iran produced a big goose-egg as well. Tehran says it wants to hold “talks” on everything…except stopping their nuclear weapons and missile programs. Despite the fact that the Iranians refuse to talk about the only issue that really matters, the White House wants to make the concession to have direct talks.

So far White House “soft power” means just being soft. “We give you what ever you want and get nothing in return.” That’s a well earned grade of “F.”

The administration’s other fumble last week was a weak effort to remember 9/11. The president made a speech to mark the occasion and the importance of defeating the terrorists, but failed to mention the importance of winning the war in Afghanistan…critical to crushing al Qaeda once and for all. That was a big omission. Likewise, the administration tried to shift the focus of the day away from defeating terrorism to stressing the importance of “national service.” Another bad move, suggesting the White House is losing focus on what is really important.

On the other hand, here is the best…well at least not really bad news:

Swine flu is a major concern this flu season. It is already spreading rapidly across the United States. A Heritage Foundation assessment of the preparations to deal with the challenge finds that Homeland Security and public health measures should be adequate to deal with the challenge. Granted, most of the preparations for pandemic flu are just building on the hard work done in the last administration, still kudos to the new team for following through. Despite Washington’s preparing for a pandemic, it needs to do its part to mitigate the effects on our families.

Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.

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About the author

James Jay Carafano PhD
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affaires, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation.