President Obama's failed foreign policy?

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President Obama's failed foreign policy?

James Carville reacts to a columnist saying President Obama has a

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," April 24, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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O'REILLY: "Impact Segment" tonight, it's perceived in some circles that President Obama's foreign policy has failed. Last Sunday columnist David Brooks a moderate who writes for "The New York Times" said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: Let's face it Obama whether deservedly or not does have a -- I'll say it crudely -- but a manhood problem in the Middle East. Is he tough enough to stand up to somebody like Assad, somebody like Putin -- and I think a lot of the rap is unfair but certainly in the Middle East there is an assumption it's not tough enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: All right joining us now from Atlanta Democratic James Carville. So do you respond to Brooks?

JAMES CARVILLE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well first of all, this manhood thing is getting out of hand. First you had manhood then it mom jeans and somebody like a way it gets off an airplane. I do think it's fair to say that his policy has been somewhat ad hoc and I think that's more of necessity that anything. If you remember Bill he -- after Syria gassed it's people he wanted to have pretty strong military response and the public support and congressional support want to weigh on -- and kind of had to walk that back.

O'REILLY: Well when you say the policy is ad hoc that means in Latin, to this. It means that there isn't any overall policy it's basically reacting to what comes your way.

But what Brooks is saying and Brooks is not an Obama basher by any means is that now, now it's personal. And now Putin is taking advantage of Obama in a personal way and the mullahs in Iran are likely to take advantage of him in personal way because they perceive him as being I didn't Jimmy Carter-esque.

CARVILLE: Well I think if I recall, I could be wrong, Mr. Brooks was a supporter of -- maybe he longs for a day of a more bellicose foreign policy. I think a lot of people agree with him. But any rate, it is a fair thing to say that he adapts to a situation and takes each thing one at a time. I think that you know some chance that Iranian policy is at least continuing. Continuing to talk that could be a game changer.

O'REILLY: We will know in about a month. We'll know in a month.

CARVILLE: Will know in about a month.

O'REILLY: Right.

CARVILLE: I'm not sure if Putin is doing all that well right now either. He starts to admit that the sanctions are starting to hurt him. And if he does anymore, he is going to be facing pretty serious sanctions - -

O'REILLY: But you don't have -- does he really have do anymore. He just picked off Crimea and added that to the - to the Russian landscape. I don't know really if he has to do anymore.

CARVILLE: Well you know he was going to do in Eastern Ukraine. But it's cost him a lot -- it's cost him a lot in terms of his debt rating and --

O'REILLY: He doesn't look like he's hurt to me Carville. Maybe you are seeing him in his office. He looks like is he is having a grand old time to me.

CARVILLE: Read Robert Service (ph) -- who is probably the most knowledgeable person in the history of modern Russia he doesn't think it's going out well for Putin. But you know these things we don't know at one time, we will sort of know in the future.

But I tell you I do say it is a valid point that it does seem that the President and his foreign policy of late have gone from sort of one crisis to another. But I'm not sure that might be the best policy we can have.

O'REILLY: Well, wait a minute now. I mean I submitted about a month ago that the weakness that President Obama showed to Assad that was the big thing. There are two big things: President Obama riding a bicycle in short pants and then backing away from Assad. He should have bombed Assad's military air fields. He should have done that taken him out and he should have never gotten the bike with the dopey helmet and the short pants.

CARVILLE: Ok let me go back on the Assad thing remember he wanted to do it. And the Congress and the Republicans and some Democrats --

O'REILLY: Yes, no, no it's not the Congress -- he has the power to do it if he wants to, he could have done it.

CARVILLE: Again, again there was no public support for it.

O'REILLY: So what.

CARVILLE: He didn't want to do it and he pulled back from it.

O'REILLY: So what.

CARVILLE: And you can say well he was ineffective in doing it.

O'REILLY: No, no. A leader leads. A leader leads.

CARVILLE: You know, the military was dead set against it and probably for a lot of good reasons. There is no appetite in the upper echelon in the United States Armed Forces to go to war.

O'REILLY: A five hour sortie over Syria taking out their air force would not have affected our military one iota. Now, you've got -- you've got the President in Asia and we have Ed Henry coming up. The Chinese want to take a bunch of islands away from the Japanese and away from the Filipinos. Ok? They -- you know, are most likely going to do that now -- going to seize those islands to control the shipping lanes in the South China Sea. And, again, President Obama is not going to be able to stop them.

CARVILLE: Well, you know, first of all, we don't know the historic, to put it mildly, animosity between Japanese and the Chinese. I'm not sure that he is going to be able to --

O'REILLY: They are going to seize the islands, Carville. That's what they're going to do.

CARVILLE: Well ok then -- and then so what's your answer?

O'REILLY: My answer is that when you show weakness, whether you're Calvin Coolidge, Jimmy Carter or Barack Obama, things get worse. Last word.

CARVILLE: Ok. You know what? You know what I think they invaded Georgia in 2008. They crushed (inaudible) in 1956. They crushed the Prague in 1958. Instilled martial law in the 80s. The Russians have a way of doing what they want to do in their own area of the world.

O'REILLY: All right James Carville everybody.

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