Obama: No Fear of Tough and Aggressive Diplomacy
Mark Davis, in The Dallas Morning News, loyally lines up behind John McCain in defense of the failed foreign policy of George W Bush. Bush's cowboy approach of unilateral action and pre-emptive war instead of tough and aggressive diplomacy has brought us disaster in Iraq, deterioration in Afghanistan, futility against al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and loss of leverage in Gaza and Lebanon.
Mark Davis says Barack Obama is naive for saying he would be unafraid to meet with the leaders of unsavory states. Mark Davis shows his own naivete about history. The Bush foreign policy that led to his administration's failures ignores four decades of bipartisan foreign policy by both Republican and Democratic administrations. Harry Truman met with Joseph Stalin. Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy each met with Nikita Khrushchev. Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter each met with Leonid Brezhnev. Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush each met with Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Cold War victory that resulted from tough and aggressive diplomacy should be a blueprint for American foreign policy today. But George W Bush tossed all that aside. Bush's fear of tough and aggressive diplomacy has left this country more isolated and less secure than at any time in recent history. John McCain vows to carry on Bush's failed diplomacy.
Mark Davis says Bush's recent speech to the Israeli Knesset, condemning negotiations, was no different than remarks he has made countless times. In fact, Bush has not previously made partisan political attacks on foreign soil, comparing his Democratic opponents to Nazi appeasers. For Mark Davis to say that's no big deal reveals an abominable lack of understanding of history and the seriousness of the charge. Talking is not appeasement. And Nazi appeasement was a big deal.
Mark Davis says the quick and vociferous condemnation of Bush's comments by Democrats is somehow evidence of their truth. I'll leave it to readers to figure out the logic of that.
Mark Davis says Obama and Democrats are "soft on terror" but offers no examples. Davis presumably feels this is a self-evident truth. Go figure again.
Mark Davis says the left doesn't recognize that a photo op with the President of United States is an honor. Of course, Obama recognizes that. What Mark Davis doesn't recognize is that letting petty tyrants portray themselves as aggrieved victims of American bullying is an honor as well. Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Iran's Ahmedinejad North Korea's Kim Jong Il gain street cred by being snubbed by the President of the United States.
Mark Davis imagines discussions with Iran going like this, "Please stop preparing to nuke Israel." This is an absurd characterization of Obama's call for tough and aggressive diplomacy. Mark Davis calls Obama's position "childlike innocence." Obama knows better. He, a better student of history, believes as John F. Kennedy did, when he said in 1961:
"So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. ... All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."
Coincidentally, an AP headline today reads, "Israel says it is holding peace talks with Syria." In statements, the two governments said they "have declared their intent to conduct these talks in good faith and with an open mind," with a goal of reaching "a comprehensive peace." Maybe Mark Davis thinks the Israelis are showing their own "childlike innocence." I dare him to tell it to an Israeli's face.
Let's not forget Bush's own Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, who just last week said, "We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage with respect to the Iranians and then sit down and talk with them." Maybe Mark Davis thinks "childlike innocence" has penetrated even Bush's inner circle.
Even John McCain, in an interview two years ago, after the election of Hamas, recognized the practical necessity of sometimes talking with adversaries: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another." Maybe Mark Davis should write another column about the "childlike innocence" of McCain.
I don't know which is worse: George Bush's naivete, John McCain's hypocrisy, or Mark Davis' sycophancy. Davis is nothing but a second-rate political hack, a shill for Republican politicians. That The Dallas Morning News tarnishes its own reputation by continuing to publish his columns is sad.
No comments:
Post a Comment