# International opinion of the USA under Obama is far, far better than it was under Bush **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 30, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-opinion-of-the-usa-under-obama-is-far-far-better-than-it-was-under-bush/689654 "2014-05-30T18:24:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-opinion-of-the-usa-under-obama-is-far-far-better-than-it-was-under-bush/689654/61 "2014-07-16T22:23:20Z")
Getting rid of much of Ukraine’s pro-Russian populace (and territory) had something to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-opinion-of-the-usa-under-obama-is-far-far-better-than-it-was-under-bush/689654/62 "2014-07-17T05:26:47Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Ain’t that just a master class in revisionism?:eek: Glad you like that. 😉 But seriously, do you think Bush believed Iraq had WMDs? > [@Shodan](#): > > Putin, not Obama. Obama made some threats, but neither the UN nor Congress nor the UK nor anybody except the French were going to go along with it. > > Which demonstrates why being popular is different from having an effective foreign policy. North Korea isn’t going to do anything different because Obama is Miss Congeniality in Europe. Putin isn’t going to leave the Crimea alone. ISIS isn’t going to back off in Iraq. Egypt still gets its foreign aid even though they had a military coup. Bahrain still gets weapons and equipment even while they are beating and torturing thousands of dissidents. > > He got the Nobel Prize for being black and not being Bush. That’s all he can expect in return for being popular, and more than he deserves. The US does not even need France- if Obama got motivated about blowing up targets in Syria, he could make Assad wish he’d made different choices. This way, actual WMDs get removed without the $3 trillion price tag or damage to our country’s prestige on the world stage, not to mention skipping all the death and destruction. The stable-est regime in this state stays in power; they are a crappy, murderous regime, but hey, look how getting rid of that kind of regime worked out in Iraq. Have we learned nothing? Of course we have. I am still convinced that this situation has been handled wisely, and that our options remain open. As for the other problems you mention- well, in terms of international opinion, I really think foreign populations are generally relieved that the US isn’t going around blowing up stuff on the scale it is capable of doing. That kind of behavior comes across as barbarous, and so in terms of public opinion it isn’t hard to beat. Russia is behaving as they did in Georgia, and in those little states to the southwest- grabbing a toehold to leverage ethnic tensions designed by Stalin, an getting away with it. They get Crimea, they lose Ukraine, overall everyone is cool with it except for talk-radio hosts. So what? Are we supposed to go to war with Russia over this? And- if being black were the only requirement for a Nobel prize, I think black people would have been shown more respect throughout our nation’s history. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-opinion-of-the-usa-under-obama-is-far-far-better-than-it-was-under-bush/689654/63 "2014-07-17T14:00:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Getting rid of much of Ukraine’s pro-Russian populace (and territory) had something to do with that. [shrug] It was bound to happen sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stately_Greek_Automaton)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-opinion-of-the-usa-under-obama-is-far-far-better-than-it-was-under-bush/689654/64 "2014-07-17T19:30:36Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > And I care because…? Lol, Obama sucks. I’m glad there are millions of sheep out there. I’m pretty sure the leaders of China, Russia, North Korea, Syria and the rest of them also prefer Obama to Bush. And you are close, personal friends with all of those leaders, so I assume your post is your cite? Looking at Russia for a moment, what was the Bush administration’s response to their invasion of Georgia? Now what was the Obama administration’s response to the Ukraine situation? Do you honestly believe that Putin prefers the sanctions in place over Ukraine to the minor tongue lashing over Georgia? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-opinion-of-the-usa-under-obama-is-far-far-better-than-it-was-under-bush/689654/65 "2014-07-17T21:42:44Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > And I care because…? Because international opinion of the USA is something that **matters.** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/international-opinion-of-the-usa-under-obama-is-far-far-better-than-it-was-under-bush/689654.md?page=3)