Administration's foreign policy includes heavy dose of humility

WASHINGTON -- President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have made humility a centerpiece of their foreign policy, drawing praise from world leaders and wrath from some Republicans at home.

Clinton is scheduled to testify before Congress today about "new beginnings" in the Obama administration's approach to the world. So far, Clinton and Obama's new approach has included frank assessments of past U.S. shortcomings.

• In France, Obama said that "there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive," failing "to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world."

• On the way to Mexico, Clinton said American demand for drugs and illegal weapons sales here is partly to blame for the drug violence south of the border.

• En route to Europe, Clinton called the multibillion-dollar U.S. reconstruction effort in Afghanistan "heartbreaking," because she said there is little to show for it.

• In the Dominican Republic, Clinton said she views the U.S. policy toward Cuba as having "failed."

London's Daily Telegraph said Obama "went further than any U.S. president in history in criticizing his own country's action while standing on foreign soil."

It's no stretch for two Democrats to criticize the policies of their Republican predecessors, but Obama and Clinton also have struck at deeper themes, such as the U.S. role in greenhouse-gas emissions, and "the past treatment of Native Americans," as Obama put it to the Turkish parliament.

Their comments have drawn scorn from conservatives such as Fox News' Sean Hannity, who referred to Obama's European trip as an "apology tour." Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote that Obama "came bearing a basketful of mea culpas."

In an interview with USA TODAY, former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich compared Obama's foreign policy approach to that of Jimmy Carter, whose weakness, in Gingrich's view, led the Soviets to invade Afghanistan.

"You go around the world apologizing, what did you get for it?" Gingrich said. "Are the Europeans sending more combat troops to Afghanistan? No. Are the sanctions on Iran tougher? No."