No Worse Friend, No Better Enemy

No Worse Friend, No Better Enemy

Generations of U.S. Marines have exemplified the motto "No better friend, no worse enemy" with their unstinting dependability in the face of adversity, and their ferocity in combat. To the extent that the country as a whole has hewed to these time-tested principles, the world has been made more stable and American interests more secure.

In its time in office, however, the Obama administration has increasingly turned that formula on its head. The message of its policies and conduct is as unmistakable as it is ominous: Better to be an enemy of the United States than its friend.

Consider,...