HOW’S THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA? (CONT’D): Video: NBC chief foreign correspondent blasts Obama’s “Egypt not an ally” statement. “For the President to come out and say, well, he’s not exactly sure if Egypt is an ally any more but it’s not an enemy, that is a significant change in the perspective of Washington toward this country, the biggest country in the Arab world. It makes one wonder, well, was it worth it? Was it worth supporting the Arab Spring, supporting the demonstrations here in Tahrir Square, when now in Tahrir Square there are clashes going on behind me right in front of the US embassy?”

Related: Embassy Protests Spread To Other “Arab Spring” Nations. “Yesterday I wrote that this looks like 1979 all over again. Today, we’re seeing the same diplomatic impotence displayed in that awful year, and the inevitable result. Thirty-three years ago, we got pushed out of the Persian Gulf; today, we’re getting pushed out of North Africa. Three years ago, President Obama assured us that his speech in Cairo would change the world, and eighteen months ago gave himself credit for the Arab Spring by citing that very speech. Ever since that speech took place, the American position has eroded in the Middle East, and it’s eroding rapidly now. We may not be able to retain embassies in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt any longer; we certainly can’t fly the flag above them securely at the moment.”

Good thing we don’t have some dumb cowboy in charge of this stuff, isn’t it?