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Obama Coming Up Short on Human Rights

President's actions don't match the promises that wowed Berliners

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 20, 2009 1:19 AM CDT

(Newser) – President Obama's decision to skip the celebrations of the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall highlights the gap between his rhetoric on the campaign trail and the realities of his presidency, writes Bret Stephens. Obama hailed the "dream of freedom" in his big speech in Berlin last year but he has done nothing to advance the dream of freedom for the people of China, Iran, Burma, and Sudan, Stephens grumbles in the Wall Street Journal.

Obama has failed to press China's leaders on human rights, and has adopted a policy of engagement with the vile regimes of Burma and Sudan, even though there's no evidence that will work any better than sanctions, Stephens notes. It takes "a remarkable degree of cynicism—or perhaps cowardice—to treat human rights as something that 'interferes' with America's purposes in the world, rather than as the very thing that ought to define them," Stephens writes. "Yet that is exactly the record of Mr. Obama's time thus far in office."

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

Then-presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama delivers a speech at the victory column in Berlin last year. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Berliners celebrate on top of the Berlin Wall as East Germans flood through the dismantled Berlin Wall into West Berlin at Potsdamer Platz in 1989. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)

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I found myself driving behind a car with Free Tibet, Save Darfur, and Obama '08 bumper stickers. I wonder if it will ever dawn on the owner of that car that at least one of those stickers doesn't belong. - Bret Stephens

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 11 comments

godawgs

Oct 21, 2009 6:34 AM CDT

@ultra marine Now the left cant have this type of stuff both ways. You want to give him all the credit in the world for what he is doing but none of the blame for what he is not doing, and he has been in office for 10 months not 9.

QueenAlli

Oct 20, 2009 11:45 AM CDT

Jesus Freaking Christ - He Really IS the Messiah! Right? I mean that's the only reason why every pundit/opinionator has commented about how he has not saved the world yet, right?

RockyPneumonia

Oct 20, 2009 10:14 AM CDT

While I hate to confuse you with, y'know, facts, Jayster, Politifact.com has been tracking President Obama's promises and he has a remarkable record already of promises kept or in the works: http://www.politifact.com/trut.../

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China • Iran • human rights • Berlin • Sudan • foreign policy • Burma • Obama administration • President Obama

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Obama Coming Up Short on Human Rights