By Jon Queally

CommonDreams.Org

President Barack Obama arrives to deliver the commencement address to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point’s Class of 2014, Wednesday, May 28, 2014, in West Point, N.Y. (Photo: AP)In a speech rife with incongruities and contradictions, President Obama set out his vision and defense of U.S. foreign policy on Wednesday at the West Point Military Academy in New York.

In the speech, Obama announced that he believes “in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being” and spoke repeatedly about “American leadership” and “American strength.”

Progressives and foreign policy experts on the left, however, were quick to criticize the president’s speech from various angles via their Twitter accounts with many noting that for all his grand rhetoric on the nation’s special place in the world, the United States under his leadership has done little to inspire and much to undermine such a role. From assaults on human rights and the flouting of international law to serves its own interests, many critics charge, the United States continues to export militarism while undermining efforts to create a more just and peaceful world.

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