http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...tch-us-actions

President Obama’s recent foreign policy speech, delivered at this year’s West Point graduation ceremony, was a disappointment to anyone who hoped the president might be changing course. The failure of each US intervention thus far in the 21st century might have inspired at least a bit of reflection.

However, the president made it clear that interventionism and American exceptionalism would continue to guide his administration in its final two years. The president said, “I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being,” adding the dubious claim that “because of American diplomacy and foreign assistance, as well as the sacrifices of our military -- more people live under elected governments today than at any time in human history.”
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President Obama’s spoke at length about the US role in promoting democracy around the world, but why does it seem that the US government only recognizes elections as free and fair when the US-favored candidate wins?

At West Point the president announced a new five billion dollar “counterterrorism partnership,” with much of the money going to continue supporting the rebels in Syria. Though the administration claims it only supports moderate rebels in Syria, it has refused to explain exactly which fighting groups it considers “moderate.” In fact it is known that the weapons sent to “moderates” in Syria often end up in the hands of the radicals. This five billion dollars – stolen from US taxpayers and borrowed from China – will guarantee a prolongation of the war in Syria.

There is much to disappoint in Obama’s big foreign policy speech. It represents a continuation of the policy of “do what we say and we will subsidize you, disobey us and we will bomb you.” That approach is a failure, but the neocons who back it show no sign of falling out of favor.