Obama to Air Force grads: Isolationism is not an option

Addressing his last commencement ceremony at a military academy, President Obama spoke to new Air Force graduates Thursday about the lessons he has learned as commander in chief and appeared to poke back at Republican critics, including presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Among the lessons: America's military remains second to none, foreign policy has to involve diplomacy as well the prospect of military force, and the United States has no choice but to provide world leadership.

"We cannot turn inward," Obama told the Air Force cadets. "We cannot give in to isolationism. That’s a false comfort."

While he did not specifically mention Trump or the political campaign, the president did respond to Republican critics who have questioned American commitments to alliances like NATO and opposed international treaties like the Law of the Sea Convention.

Protesting the Republican-run Senate's refusal to approve that latter treaty, Obama said that "it’s time for the Senate to do its job and help us advance American leadership, rather than undermine it.”

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The president argued that "treaties keep us safe," and that the world looks to the United States for "smart, steady, principled American leadership."

Trump and other Republican critics have said that Obama has weakened the military and undermined alliances with friends like Israel, and that his approach has emboldened rivals like China and Russia.

Obama. who on Wednesday delivered a speech touting his economic policies, used the Air Force commencement to promote his foreign policy.

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The two-term president who leaves office on Jan. 20 cited troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the effort to defend the United States from spread of the Ebola virus, and a series of military strikes that took out terrorist leaders, including 9/11 architect Osama bin Laden.

The president also pushed back on critics over his decision against military intervention in Syria, the nuclear deal with Iran, and a new global climate change agreement.

Extolling his diplomatic initiatives, Obama said that, "as powerful as our military is, we must remember that many of the threats to our security cannot be solved by military force alone."

Obama told the graduates that, contrary to many impressions, the world as a whole has never been more peaceful or prosperous than it is now. Little more than a half-century after a second world war that killed 60 million people — "not 60 thousand, 60 million" — more and more descendants are living under democracies, and have been lifted out of poverty with the help of technology and growing economies.

"We are well-positioned," Obama told the cadets. "You enter this moment with a lot of good cards to play."

There are challenges, he added, ranging from the spread of global diseases to "the specter of nuclear terrorism."

When it comes to the prospect of force, Obama told the Air Force graduates that they are joining what remains by far the world's finest military.

"It is undeniable," Obama said. "Our military is the most capable fighting force on the planet. It’s not close."