Fidel April 22, 2009
Posted by os2011 in Cuba, Foreign Policy, President Obama.Tags: Castro, Foreign Policy, Obama
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Today, Cuba’s de-facto leader Fidel Castro somehow thwarted hopes that Obama’s Grand Ouverture towards his country would result into any form of liberalization on his island. So what did Raul say, that could have been so misinterpreted by the American administration ? He mentioned something about being open for talks about everything.
Now talk is cheap, particularly in communist countries, even though Western politicians are quite good at that themselves, and a gifted speaker like Obama is certainly no stranger to taking a mouthful either.
So far, however, Obama’s attempts to gain good standing with friends and foes alike has not brought about any results:
Apologies to Europe brought about a dizzying array of compliments and declarations of sympathy, but no real commitment from the Europeans, who have simply disregarded Obama’s request for more engagement in Afghanistan.
The President’s bow before the King of Saudi-Arabia yet has to yield any measurable results – subservient behaviour like this will be undoubtedly interpreted as a sign of weakness in a culture of machoism that has made human rights violations an integral part of its society.
The continuation of his “Tour d’apologie” in Latin America has provided Hugo Chavez with a welcome opportunity to get his face on the headlines of every single news-outlet on the planet, while he continues to play footsie with the Iranian mad-man Ahmadinedjad.
This trend seems to be continuing with Cuba, and one wonders when the President – who has no executive experience – will come to realize the sharp realities of international politics. If he doesn’t learn his lessons soon, he will take the risk of his presidency being named in the same breath with Jimmy Carter’s.
For those readers who are suspicious of the “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy”, I should mention that even though the below-mentioned article appears on the Fox News website, it is written by the Associated Press (AP).
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/22/fidel-castro-obama-got-overture-wrong/
Multi-Lateralism April 21, 2009
Posted by os2011 in Foreign Policy, Korea, United Nations.Tags: Bush, Korea, Obama, UN
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The Wall Street recently published an interesting article that illuminates the incongruence between Obama’s vision of international multi-lateralism and the impotence of the United Nations. The latest example is the North Korean missile crisis. Russia – still unable to cope with the loss of its superpower status – seems to be undertaking anything in its power to damage American interests, and is therefore not the least interested in making multilateralism work. China has its own agenda: it’s been propping up the North-Korean regime for decades and continues to do so out of fear that an influx of millions of starving North Koreans might actually cross its borders once the Kim dynasty is eradicated. France continues to indulge itself in its delusions of grandeur as a Super-Power and will not cease to do its own thing.
And so we will have to resign to the fact that the crazy little dictator will continue to subdue and starve his people until Judgement Day, or – at least – until the North Korean people will have had enough and give him the boot. Right now, however, this is something unimaginable considering the UNIlateral distribution of power in this Stalinist country.
The West – putting our moral sensitivities aside for a convenient moment – could pretend not to notice the suffering of the North Korean people. But, of course, we won’t, and will instead protest in the strongest possible diplomatic language against the violation of human rights in North Korea. In return, Pyongyang will threaten for the umpteenth time to revive its nuclear weapons program, which will prompt further concessions from the UN and its newly compliant member, the United States.
We’ll be investing billions of dollars in human and technological intelligence in order to trace attempts of Kim to proliferate nuclear weapons. And one day, we’ll be wondering where the materials for the dirty bomb that Islamists will have detonated in a major Western city might have come from. President Obama will be outraged, protest in the strongest possible terms (heard that before ?), send a single Cruise Missile into the barren backyards of Waziristan (Clinton re-loaded) and engage in multilateral talks with our “friends” in the UN.
Peace be upon you …
Memo April 21, 2009
Posted by os2011 in Foreign Policy, National Security, President Bush, President Obama, Vice-President Cheney.Tags: Bush, Dick Cheney, National Security, Obama
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While President Bush was often maligned by his political adversaries, he was just as often (if not more) the butt of everybody’s jokes. His Vice President, Dick Cheney, however was hardly ever the subject of liberal ridicule (with the exception of his notorious hunting accident). His role in the past administration was often compared to “The Evil Lord” Darth Vader in the Star Wars Trilogy.
Well, the man supposedly mostly responsible for ensuring that the US was never hit again after 9/11 has now returned into the limelight. In an interview with Fox News, he commented on the new administration’s decision to release the CIA torture memos. Said memos described the CIA’s interrogation techniques of suspected terrorists. President Obama decided to have these memos published to … well, why did he ? Unfortunately, he never did make a strong case for publishing these secret files.
However, the decision to do so is entirely in keeping with the new President’s policy: on his recent European and Latin American “Tour d’Apologie” he prostrated himself (and thereby: America) in front of friend and foe alike. The memos will further the purpose of demonstrating that the “Evil America” is dead, and the “Good America” has risen – the Messiah has arrived !
Undoubtedly, this will elevate America’s – and particularly his own – image in “civilized” countries like Europe. On a continent that for the past 70 years has been unable to end military conflicts on its own soil without the help and leading support from the United States, America-bashing is well and alive and always a welcome instrument to distract from its own incompetencies and failures. Other countries, such as Russia, Iran, the Arab States and North-Korea might interpret this more as a weakness in the new administration’s political armor.
Dick Cheney’s proposal to release further memos, namely those that reveal the results of said interrogation techniques is a danger for the new President, because this step could reveal how many potentially catastrophic assaults on the US worldwide have been prevented. As a result, the American people might just change their stance on these techniques.
The liberal press has realized this, and it is no surprise that Dick Cheney’s interview with Fox (the American flagship of the alleged “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy“) has not made it to the frontpage of a single American newspaper.
The whole interview is available online under the following link of the UK Daily The Times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6138465.ece
Charles Krauthammer April 20, 2009
Posted by os2011 in President Obama.Tags: Krauthammer, Obama, Washington Post
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I have always enjoyed reading the analyses and essays of Charles Krauthammer, a well-known, nationally syndicated columist. Considering his professional background (he used to be a psychiatrist) makes his recent essay on President Obama’s mission worth reading. It is published in the Washington Post (Link below) and provides an interesting insight into Obama’s true motives and ambitions. Despite the easy readability, the contents might be a little hard to digest. See for yourself.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/02/AR2009040203287.html
Back in the saddle April 20, 2009
Posted by os2011 in President Bush.Tags: Bush, Economist, Obama
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President Bush’s approval ratings were abysmal when he left office. Throughout his presidency, he served as the mainstream press’ whipping boy. The myth of the “stolen” elections haunted him forever, and the liberals never forgave him for it. His decision to invade Iraq has always been (wrongly) portrayed as an attempt to finish his father’s business.
Now, for those who know me, this will come as no surprise: I always liked the guy. He had integrity and did what he believed was right, no matter what the polls said. He was incorruptible and remained true to himself. And: American soil never got attacked again. The mainstream media like to paint him as a destroyer of civil freedoms, but the fact that all his measures to protect America from “9/11-reloaded” worked; this is a historical and undisputable fact, and it remains to be seen for how long the new President will be able to up-hold this record. The Americans should be grateful, and I have very little doubt that history will judge him differently than his contemporaries did. Ronald Reagan was always propular and he would have been likely to win a third term had he been able to run – but he also was maligned to no end by his political adversaries, yet today, no one can argue the case that it was his determination and his steadfastedness that forced the collapse of the Soviet Union and the victory of the West (and the Western values) in the Cold War.
The “Economist” describes in a very informative article, how President Bush is slowly getting into the saddle again. His memoirs are in the works, and I can hardly wait for them to be published. No doubt, the outcry of the liberal media will be deafening . Up to now, he has refrained from criticizing President Obama, claiming that his successor deserves his silence – another example of his personal integrity, which clearly sets him apart from and in contrast to the media.
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13496838
Abyss April 19, 2009
Posted by os2011 in Taxes & Debts.Tags: Debt, Foreign Policy, Obama, Taxes
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In “Foreign Policy”, there is an interesting article which fears that the worse is yet to come, and that the present administration does not yet have a plan in place as to how to handle the crisis.
They argue that while capital is available in the markets, it’s sitting on the sideline until the American administration will be successful in creating the impression that they actually know what they are doing.
Obama’s Nominees April 18, 2009
Posted by os2011 in President Obama.Tags: Obama
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Click on the picture to reach the link
Obama and Chavez April 18, 2009
Posted by os2011 in Foreign Policy.Tags: Chavez, Obama
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The idea of the US or any other civilized country trying to do “nice-talk” with a totalitarian egomaniac like Chavez is one that doesn’t evoke ectstatic sensations of fluffy fuzziness in my stomach. President Obama shook hands (see link below) with a guy who pallies with Ahmadinedjad (remember the guy, who wants to erase Israel from the map ?) and who torpedoes American interests wherever, and by whichever means he can. Is this Neville Chamberlain all over again ?
One can certainly argue that shaking hands with a dictator does not necessarily imply appeasement or a change of policy. And it sounds also true that keeping communication channels open – particularly between countries in the same hemisphere – is in each others interest.
However, the shaking of hands was more a political coup for Chavez than it was for Obama. The Venezuelan national-socialist managed to have his photo on the front page of any major news outlet, including the New York Times. This lends him international recognition – which is what he wants.
http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/4976826/
A Libertarian's Rant 