Spying on Brazil: Another Foreign Policy “Victory” for Obama?

By John W. Lillpop


Progressive sad sacks like Nancy Pelosi tried to spin Obama’s devastating defeat at the hands of Vladimir Putin (on Syria) into a spectacular win.

"I think this is a victory for President Obama," Pelosi said at a Capitol Hill press conference.

Pelosi must be in a world of her own making…a fantasy world in which facts are irrelevant, perhaps even dangerous if they dare diminish the Obama Messiah myth.

Undeterred by truth and facts, the Obama Victory train continues to wrack up wins, as defined by blind lunatics like Pelosi.

The latest BHO “V” involves the US relationship with Brazil, as reported at the reference:


WASHINGTON (AP) - For President Barack Obama, an embarrassing diplomatic rebuke by Brazil has compounded an already troublesome stretch for the White House both at home and abroad.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced Tuesday that she was putting off a state visit to the U.S. next month to protest an American spy program that has aggressively targeted her nation's government and private citizens alike.
Rousseff's decision deepened the global fallout for Obama from revelations about National Security Agency surveillance programs, which have also angered many Americans. The announcement also came amid criticism of Obama's public shifting over the threat of U.S. military action against Syria.

Some foreign policy analysts say such issues raise questions about Ob
ama's standing around the world.

"The real issue becomes, How does this affect American influence in the world?" said Carl Meacham, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Is American influence knocked down a few notches as a result of this?" He called Rousseff's action "almost unheard of."

Throughout his summer travels abroad, Obama has been dogged by criticism of the government's spying programs. While the anger has been particularly intense in privacy-protective Europe, Rousseff was also incensed about revelations that the U.S. intercepted her communications with aides.


Questions about U.S. influence under Obama have also been raised during the debate over a chemical weapons attack in Syria. The president struggled to gain international support for a possible military strike against Syria, then was bailed out when Russia pitched a last-minute diplomatic option to resolve the crisis.

Obama's advisers dispute the notion that the Syria debate signals a decline in American influence, saying Russia's plan to strip Syria of its chemical weapons stockpiles only emerged because of the threat of U.S. military action.
Earlier this month, it was Obama who canceled a trip - to Moscow because of Russia's role in the NSA matter. Russia granted temporary asylum to Snowden, the NSA leaker, despite White House pleas that he be returned to the U.S. to face espionage charges.


Rousseff would have been the first Brazilian leader to be honored with a state visit to the U.S. since 1995.

The Brazilian president had been threatening for weeks to cancel her trip to Washington. The White House invested significant effort in getting her to change her mind. Obama talked with Rousseff at length on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, earlier this month and national security adviser Susan Rice tried to mitigate the damage during talks with Brazilian Foreign Minister Luiz Alberto Figueiredo.

Following her meeting with Obama at the G-20, Rousseff said Obama promised her answers about the programs and told her he didn't want her to cancel her trip. Still, she asserted that spying on a friendly country is incompatible with democratic alliances.


Still, to quote the demented Lady from San Francisco, “This is another fantastic victory for The One! Who needs Brazil anyway?”

Reference
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130918/DA8SL7BO0.html