Obama's final foreign policy monstrosity

Obama's decision to have the United States abstain from the vote on the UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements on the West Bank is the most monstrous foreign policy decision an American president has made in decades.

Mr Obama once again acted unilaterally, ignoring the objections of many in the legislative branch, including senators Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal from his own party. He once again ceded American sovereignty in foreign policy to the UN, the first time being when he sought approval from the UN Security Council for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran instead of seeking approval for it as a treaty in the US Senate. Mr Obama's action reveals the dangers to the United States of being a member of the UN: by simply abstaining from a vote, a single rogue President, in this case Mr Obama, can bypass the requirement to seek Senate approval for foreign treaties and allow international law to be determined. Finally, Vladimir Putin is ecstatic. The international community now has a new cudgel with which to hammer the Israelis, while at the same time Russian ally Bashar al-Assad has been restored to power and Russia has become the dominant non-Muslim player in the Middle East. Leading from behind, President Obama now weakly condemns the settlements on the West Bank, while having done nothing to stop the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Syria, even after drawing his infamous red line.

It is difficult to imagine a more feckless, while at the same time a more dangerous, foreign policy performance from a president than what we have seen from Mr Obama over the last 8 years.