For Obama, foreign crises grow more challenging

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Surveying a dizzying array of international crises, President Barack Obama stated the obvious: "We live in a complex world and at a challenging time."

 

And then suddenly, only a day later, the world had grown much more troubling, the challenges even more confounding.

 

The downing Thursday of a passenger plane carrying nearly 300 people spread the impact of the standoff between Ukraine and Russia far around the globe. The prospect of more Mideast casualties was assured when Israel launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip after efforts to arrange a cease-fire between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed.

 

Yet there was a ray of hope elsewhere at week's end with the announcement that the U.S. and its negotiating partners had agreed to extend nuclear negotiations with Iran for four months rather than allowing the talks to collapse as a Sunday deadline neared.

 

Still, there's no guarantee of overcoming stubborn differences with Iran and reaching a final agreement. Obama also will have to find a way to stave off pressure from members of Congress, including some fellow Democrats, who see the extension as a stalling tactic by Iran and are anxious to further penalize Tehran.

 

"Increased economic pressure would strengthen our hand, but the administration opposes it," said Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "It should welcome congressional efforts to ratchet up the economic pressure on Iran."

 

The cascade of overseas developments comes as the American public's views about Obama's foreign policy have soured, turning what was once seen as his strength into a potential liability. For a second-term president already hamstrung on the domestic front, the world stage hardly looks like the refuge it sometimes has offered leaders in their final White House years.

 

Obama has said repeatedly that a world in turmoil demands American leadership, but this burst of new challenges is showing the limits of that leadership.

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Not to worry; there are always more fundraisers to attend...