Notice: Undefined variable: galink_author_id in /home/premiumh/domains/northcoastblog.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/google-author-link/google-author-link.php on line 114

Category: Foreign Policy (Page 7 of 12)

You have to talk to enemies

October 9, 2008 /

General Petraeus repeats what most respected foreign policy professionals believe – we have to be willing to talk to our enemies.

Petraeus also came out unambiguously in his talk at Heritage for opening communications with America’s adversaries, a position McCain is attacking Obama for endorsing. Citing his Iraq experience, Petraeus said, “You have to talk to enemies.” He added that it was necessary to have a particular goal for discussion and to perform advance work to understand the motivations of his interlocutors.

All that was the subject of one of the most contentious tussles between McCain and Obama in the first presidential debate, with Obama contending that his intent to negotiate with foreign adversaries without “precondition” did not mean that he would neglect diplomatic “preparation.”

McCain, apparently perceiving an opportunity for attack, Tuesday again used Obama’s comments to attack his judgment. “Sen. Obama, without precondition, wants to sit down and negotiate with them, without preconditions,” McCain said, referring to Iran.

Yet Petraeus emphasized throughout his lecture that reaching out to insurgent groups — some “with our blood on their hands,” he said — was necessary to the ultimate goal of turning them against irreconcilable enemies like Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Petraeus favorably cited the example of one of his British deputies, who in a previous assignment had to negotiate with Martin McGuiness of the Irish Republican Army, responsible for killing some of the British commander’s troops. The British officer, Petraeus said, occasionally wanted to “reach across the table” and choke his former adversary but understood that such negotiations were key to ending a war.

I wonder how John McCain will spin this one.

Foreign Policy, Iraq War, Policy, President 2008

Silver lining

October 1, 2008 /

The Senate passed the new version of the bailout plan tonight. Many expect the House to come around on Friday.

One benefit with the new legislation involves the extension of tax credits for renewable energy.

Tech industry advocates in Washington said they were encouraged by the Senate’s addition of coveted tax incentives to the bill. Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said his organization is targeting 80 House bailout opponents who have a significant solar industry presence in their districts.

Until Tuesday, Resch said he was pessimistic about winning passage for the eight-year extension of tax credits for renewable energies. “Ironically, the failure of the bailout Monday in the House gave us a new lease on life to get this done,” he said. “This is an opportunity we can’t lose.”

He credited Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada with “playing his cards close to the vest, and playing them at the right time” to get the tax-extension measures in the bill.

Resch called the tax-credit extension, which also would allow utilities to take advantage of the credits, “a game-changer” that will dramatically boost the solar industry and help create new business models.

Reid, in a news conference, predicted the renewable energy tax credits “will create tens of thousands of jobs right away.”

Swisher, the wind energy advocate, expressd similar sentiments: “I was depressed this was not going to get done. Then our hearts soared when we learned how the Senate would do this.”

Congress, Swisher said, should encourage new renewable energy businesses. He said 41 factories making wind industry products have opened in the United States in the past 18 months.

It’s stunning that these tax credits would not have been passed this year without the failure of the bailout bill earlier this week. It’s critical that we continue to encourage the development of alternative fuels, and the impact on our economy and our national security cannot be overstated. We cannot continue sending billions of dollars overseas to Russia, Venezuela and the Middle East. Instead, we can keep the money at home, and generate thousands of green jobs.

Economy, Energy Independence, Environment, Foreign Policy, Policy

Joe Biden – Asset or Liability?

September 24, 2008 /

Joe Biden has been a gaffe machine over the past several days. He said he didn’t approve of one of Obama’s ads about John McCain, and he jumped the gun saying that the government shouldn’t bail out AIG.

Fortunately, Biden has rebounded impressively this morning, with a powerful speech on foreign policy. He delivered a blistering attack on John McCain’s foreign policy positions while providing a very persuasive argument for a new approach under a Barack Obama administration. More importantly, he attacked McCain’s judgement, explaining how McCain’s bluster is counterproductive. He also ripped Bush and McCain for ignoring al Qaeda and Afghanistan. We must find and kill Bin Laden, and Biden made that absolutely clear.

The themes in this speech were clear and powerful. I suspect Obama will be repeating all these themes on Friday in the first presidential debate.

Democrats, Foreign Policy, Policy, President 2008

Excellent article on the situation in Georgia

August 16, 2008 /

Michael Dobbs reviews the current situation in Georgia, explaining how there is plenty of blame to go around. The Georgian president made a terrible mistake, and Putin engineered a disproportionate response.

The Bush administration has been sending mixed messages to its Georgian friends. U.S. officials insist that they did not give the green light to Saakashvili for his attack on South Ossetia. At the same time, however, the United States has championed NATO membership for Georgia, sent military advisers to bolster the Georgian army and demanded the restoration of Georgian territorial integrity. American support might well have emboldened Saakashvili as he was considering how to respond to the “provocations” from South Ossetia.

Now the United States has ended up in a situation in the Caucasus where the Georgian tail was wagging the NATO dog. We were unable to control Saakashvili or to lend him effective assistance when his country was invaded. One lesson is that we need to be very careful in extending NATO membership, or even the promise of membership, to countries that we have neither the will nor the ability to defend.

In the meantime, American leaders have paid little attention to Russian diplomatic concerns, both inside the former borders of the Soviet Union and farther abroad. The Bush administration unilaterally abrogated the 1972 anti-missile defense treaty and ignored Putin when he objected to Kosovo independence on the grounds that it would set a dangerous precedent. It is difficult to explain why Kosovo should have the right to unilaterally declare its independence from Serbia, while the same right should be denied to places such as South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The bottom line is that the United States is overextended militarily, diplomatically and economically. Even hawks such as Vice President Cheney, who have been vociferously denouncing Putin’s actions in Georgia, have no stomach for a military conflict with Moscow. The United States is bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan and needs Russian support in the coming trial of strength with Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

Instead of speaking softly and wielding a big stick, as Teddy Roosevelt recommended, the American policeman has been loudly lecturing the rest of the world while waving an increasingly unimpressive baton. The events of the past few days serve as a reminder that our ideological ambitions have greatly exceeded our military reach, particularly in areas such as the Caucasus, which is of only peripheral importance to the United States but of vital interest to Russia.

Foreign Policy

We are all Georgians?

August 14, 2008 /

It’s bizzarre that John McCain would repeat this line in an op-ed after the Georgian President basically scolded McCain in a CNN interview for his earlier remark. Basically, the President wanted deeds to go along with McCain’s words.

The Georgian president made an incredibly stupid mistake, and he apparantly did so with the belief that the United States would back him up if he took on Russia. The Russians have been ruthless, and the Georgian president had to resort to pleading his case repeatedly on CNN while Bush partied in Beijing and McCain made silly comments about our solidarity with the Georgians.

McCain’s credibility is further tainted by the fact that his foreign policy advisor was a paid lobbyist for the Georgian government. Could you imagine the hackles from the GOP if Barack Obama had someone advising him who had been paid to lobby for a foreign government? It’s simply galling that McCain, a self-proclaimed reformer, would put himself in a position where his judgement on an important national security issue is questioned because his advisor was once on the payroll of a foreign government. How does this fit into his disgusting “Country First” slogan? We’ve spent eight long years with an incompetent administration full of cronies who know how to use their influence to cash in. In this respect, McCain is a worthy heir to the Bush legacy.

We know McCain can be tough with Putin, but the question is whether he can be smart. His behavior during this campaign has demonstrated that he lacks judgement. He makes statements like “We are all Georgians” yet he is clearly unwilling to go to war with Russia over Georgia. It was a stupid comment. The Georgian president called him on it, and now he’s chosen to say it again. Unbelievable.

Foreign Policy, President 2008, Republicans

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2023 NorthCoastBlog.com

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑