WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama called Wednesday for a foreign policy that downplays military intervention in favor of diplomacy and international partnerships, defending his approach as better suited to a world grappling with global threats of terror.
"This is American leadership. This is American strength," Obama said of efforts to work with Europe to isolate Russia for its intervention in Ukraine and to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear pursuit. He acknowledged that neither crisis has yet been resolved but argued there's an opportunity to resolve them peacefully.
In a speech before graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., the president rebutted criticism that his foreign policy has been one of retrenchment, even as he declared that the U.S. remains indispensable and will strike if its interests are threatened.
Critics have said Obama's cautious approach to conflict has emboldened U.S. adversaries such as Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who annexed Ukraine's Crimea region earlier this year despite the threat of sanctions.
"America must always lead on the world stage. If we don't, no one else will," he said, telling the cadets that the U.S. military "is and always will be the backbone of that leadership."
But Obama argued that a military response "cannot be the only or even primary" solution to every conflict.
"Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail," he said.
Since World War II, he said, "some of our most costly mistakes came not from our restraint, but from our willingness to rush into military adventures -- without thinking through the consequences."
The president said his approach will continue to rely on cooperative action with allies and diplomacy to resolve disputes among nations.
"Of course, skeptics often downplay the effectiveness of multilateral action," Obama said. "For them, working through international institutions, or respecting international law, is a sign of weakness. I think they're wrong."
As evidence supporting his approach, he cited progress in negotiations with Iran and U.S. actions to rally allies to condemn Russia's actions in Ukraine and impose sanctions.
Echoing Obama's remarks, Vice President Joe Biden told Air Force Academy graduates later Wednesday that the U.S. "must stay engaged with wisdom and humility."
The military's newest officers need to be strategic thinkers as well as war fighters, because the U.S. will have to choose carefully when deciding whether to act alone in the world or build coalitions, he said.
The speeches came a day after Obama unveiled his plan to end combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of the year. Cadets cheered as the president said they would be the first graduating class since Sept. 11, 2001, not to be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Obama said he was "haunted" by the deaths in Afghanistan of four West Point service members who had been in attendance when he announced an Afghanistan troop surge in 2009.
And he said he'd be betraying his duty to them if he rushed into conflict "because I was worried about critics who think military intervention is the only way for America to avoid looking weak."
The president did pledge to work with Congress to ramp up support for moderate Syrian opposition groups, but he defended his decision not to send U.S. troops, saying there's "no military solution that can eliminate the terrible suffering anytime soon."
Obama framed the situation in Syria as a counterterrorism challenge and said it would be the centerpiece of a new focus on battling violent extremism even as Assad's removal is a priority.
"In helping those who fight for the right of all Syrians to choose their own future, we also push back against the growing number of extremists who find safe haven in the chaos," Obama told the graduating cadets.
"I will work with Congress to ramp up support for those in the Syrian opposition who offer the best alternative to terrorists and a brutal dictator," he said.
His remarks were immediately hailed by the Syrian Opposition Coalition, which said in a statement it "appreciates American support to the Syrian people in their struggle against the Assad regime."
Administration officials said the proposed Syria mission would be aligned with, but not necessarily part of, a proposed new $5 billion counterterrorism initiative that Obama announced in his speech to help countries in the Middle East and North Africa that are fighting extremists, including Yemen, which is battling al-Qaida.
Obama said the U.S.' biggest threat was no longer a centralized al-Qaida capable of a large-scale attack on the U.S., but decentralized affiliates and extremists, such as those seen in Syria. Many have agendas focused in countries where they operate, the president said, but they can target U.S. personnel overseas.
Obama, who was elected in 2008 in part because of his opposition to the war in Iraq, called it "naive and unsustainable" to invade every country that harbors terrorist networks, instead arguing that the U.S. should partner with countries fighting insurgents.
A White House official said some of the $10 billion to $15 billion a month that was being spent in Afghanistan could be applied to the counterterrorism program, which also would support a multinational force in Somalia, train a security force and border patrol in Libya, and assist French operations in Mali.
The fund also would be used to help Syria's neighbors Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq as they deal with refugees and confront terrorists.
Critics said U.S. allies and foes alike need to know that Washington will back up its threats with action. They said Obama's refusal to get more directly involved in Syria and other crises has created doubt about U.S. intentions around the globe.
"The result has been a general loss of U.S. credibility, making successful foreign policy nearly impossible," Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said after the address. "President Obama's diplomatic efforts cannot work if our allies lack confidence in U.S. commitments and our opponents do not fear U.S. warnings."
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Obama is doing too little too late in Syria.
"While there were options for helping the once mostly moderate opposition forces, in many places extremist rebels have now taken control of the front lines," McCaul said. "Therefore President Obama's decision to wait until now to address the crisis will affect not only our national but homeland security for years to come."
In his speech, the president did not dwell on his administration's embrace of armed drones to kill terrorist suspects and militants, chiefly in Pakistan and Yemen. The drone strikes have sparked anger in several countries and arguably are the most contentious part of his foreign-policy legacy.
But Obama reserved his right to conduct targeted killings such as drone strikes, saying, "There are times when those actions are necessary." And, so too, is military action, when the U.S. or its allies are in danger, he said.
But he said the threshold should be higher for crises that "stir our conscience or push the world in a more dangerous direction" but don't directly threaten the U.S.
In those cases, he argued, working with other countries is more likely to succeed and "less likely to lead to costly mistakes."
Obama said the U.S. must embrace two standards any time it acts unilaterally to protect the nation.
"We must not create more enemies than we take off the battlefield," he said. And the U.S. must "be more transparent about both the basis for our actions and the manner in which they are carried out."
The president also criticized Republican leaders who have raised doubts about scientific findings that warn of climate change. He told the cadets that global warming will "shape your time in uniform, as we are called on to respond to refugee flows and natural disasters and conflicts over water and food."
He pledged that the U.S. will be "out front" next year in developing a global framework to tackle global warming and the security threats it could pose.
Information for this article was contributed by Lesley Clark of McClatchy Newspapers; by Matthew Lee, Lolita C. Baldor, Julie Pace and Dan Elliott of The Associated Press; and by Phil Mattingly, Margaret Talev, Terry Atlas and Roger Runningen of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 05/29/2014