Uh-oh

17 Comments

1. 

   Zandar1 on October 26, 2008 at 8:45 pm

   Surprise!

   Nice effort, however.  We can’t declare war on Iran or Pakistan right before the election, so how about the next best thing?

   • 

     Isis on October 26, 2008 at 8:48 pm

     Isn’t Syria some evil axis place or something?

     • 

       liberaljournal on October 26, 2008 at 10:06 pm

       I think it’s like part of Iran, but it might not be. Or maybe it’s part of Iraq. Either way it’s a bad place and Democrats are bad if they want the bad guys to do bad things to us.

   • 

     idredit on October 26, 2008 at 9:03 pm

     Now that our cover in Iran is blown with the mishap – the arrest of Sinbad

     Ex – W. Bush II under Secretary of State for political affairs, career diplomat, and now Harvard Professor Kennedy School of Government Nicolas Burns tells Newsweek

     We Should Talk to Our Enemies – Iran

     [.]

     Are McCain and Palin correct that America should stonewall its foes? I lived this issue for 27 years as a career diplomat, serving both Republican and Democratic administrations. Maybe that’s why I’ve been struggling to find the real wisdom and logic in this Republican assault against Obama. I’ll bet that a poll of senior diplomats who have served presidents from Carter to Bush would reveal an overwhelming majority who agree with the following position: of course we should talk to difficult adversaries–when it is in our interest and at a time of our choosing.

     The more challenging and pertinent question, especially for the McCain-Palin ticket, is the reverse: Is it really smart to declare we will never talk to such leaders? Is it really in our long-term national interest to shut ourselves off from one of the most important and powerful states in the Middle East–Iran–or one of our major suppliers of oil, Venezuela?

     [.]

     All of these cold-war presidents embraced a foreign-policy maxim memorialized by one of the toughest and most experienced leaders of our time, Israel’s Yitzhak Rabin, who defended his discussions with Yasir Arafat by declaring, “You don’t make peace with friends, you make peace with very unsavory enemies.” Why should the United States approach the world any differently now? Especially now? As Americans learned all too dramatically on 9/11 and again during the financial crisis this autumn, we inhabit a rapidly integrating planet where dangers can strike at any time and from great distances. And when others–China, India, Brazil–are rising to share power in the world with us, America needs to spend more time, not less, talking and listening to friends and foes alike.

     The real truth Americans need to embrace is that nearly all of the most urgent global challenges–the quaking financial markets, climate change, terrorism–cannot be resolved by America’s acting alone in the world. Rather than retreat into isolationism, as we have often done in our history, or go it alone as the unilateralists advocated disastrously in the past decade, we need to commit ourselves to a national strategy of smart engagement with the rest of the world. Simply put, we need all the friends we can get. And we need to think more creatively about how to blunt the power of opponents through smart diplomacy, not just the force of arms.

     [.]

     • 

       Zandar1 on October 26, 2008 at 10:03 pm

       Gosh, I expect the FOX droids and the wingnuts to scream about this for the next 8 days.

       Gotta have something to account for the Diebold Effect.

     • 

       Salunga on October 27, 2008 at 12:10 am

          Bush-Cheney and now McCain-Palin are not up to negotiating on the world stage. They fear negotiation because they sense they are not able. They choose not to talk out of fear. Fear of failure. Diplomacy is not a sound byte, therefore its beyond the Republican party and their leaders.

2. 

   Isis on October 26, 2008 at 8:47 pm

   Another “uh-oh” from David Sirota on Colorado’s Secretary of State, who’s also running to replace Tom Tancredo:

   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/colorados-katherine-harri_b_137817.html

   Yes, you got it right. In the vein of Ken Blackwell and Katherine Harris . . .

3. 

   idredit on October 26, 2008 at 8:48 pm

   Syria won’t retaliate…it’s the Israeli precedent.

   Perhaps lucky we are that American soldiers were using the wrong map..got the geography wrong. Just imagine stumbling into WWIII.

   nothing goes right in that quadrant.

   Nothing

   BushCheney has brought us nothing but financial misery, enriched greedy special interest wheeler dealers and corporate con men.

   • 

     Salunga on October 27, 2008 at 12:21 am

     On “Nothing”
     It looks like Maliki used the US to help get rid of someone he didn’t like.

4. 

   boran2 on October 26, 2008 at 8:50 pm

   The Syrians musta had some aluminum tubes.

   • 

     Isis on October 26, 2008 at 8:58 pm

     I got some aluminum foil, does that count?

     • 

       boran2 on October 26, 2008 at 9:04 pm

       Yes, only saran wrap isn’t suspect.

     • 

       MNPundit on October 26, 2008 at 10:29 pm

       Let’s ask Ted Stevens, he knows a thing or two about Tubes.

5. 

   Hurria on October 26, 2008 at 9:53 pm

   Another criminal act by the Bush regime – what a surprise.

   Among the ironies is that Bashar Al Asad is a reasonable, western-oriented, and forward-looking person who would open up relations with with the west if the west would do so on terms that would be respectful of Syria. Syria is one of the few secular-oriented Arab countries left. They have a diverse, moderate, and tolerant population.

   Truly, Syrians are the best people. Kind, honest, respectful, non-violent, honourable, helpful, friendly people. I never worried about theft there at all. Unlike most other places I travel, including Europe, I never feel a need to guard my handbag carefully. In fact, when I took the train from Latakia to Aleppo I left my bag near the door of the car, and no one touched it.

   Really, this is such an outrage, and so incredibly stupid and counter-productive.

6. 

   michaelmt on October 26, 2008 at 9:56 pm

   He’s already said that if he had “actionable intelligence” he’d act. Now, of course, he has no way to know if that was really actionable intelligence–but he’s covered.

   • 

     Hurria on October 26, 2008 at 9:57 pm

     It is bullshit. What is he going to say, that the ghost of Abu Mus`ab Al Zarqawi was there?

7. 

   michael72 on October 27, 2008 at 4:31 am

   my first reaction was, wfk!

   my second reaction was, wtk!!

   this is the absolute worst foreign policy team i’ve seen in my lifetime. the worst. ever. can they be any more reckless. and barabaric.

   does anyone seriously wonder ‘why the world hates us’ when the US goes around killing syrians, afghanis and pakistanis on a regular basis. not even to bring up the full throated support for the henchmen in tel aviv. and the occupation of two moslem nations.

   obama has his work cut out for him if he wants to restore american goodwill in the world. geez