Forign Policy Etablishment on Obamas forign policy pledge***Naive,Wil undercut pro Western forces***

[chocome]

Barack Obama is drawing fresh fire for pledging to hold direct talks with foreign adversaries, an approach both Hillary Clinton and John McCain say they will hit hard.

Critics in the foreign-policy establishment and from rival presidential camps said his idea could undercut pro-Western forces and legitimize leaders whose power the U.S. wants to undermine, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Increasingly, they are presenting his ideas as a radical departure from standard U.S. doctrine.

Presidents for decades avoided meeting directly with the leaders of Iran, Cuba and North Korea.

"If you look beyond Iraq, the entire diplomatic approach seems to be kind of New Age: let's talk to our enemies rather then reinvigorating our allies," said Randy Scheunemann, the McCain campaign's director of foreign policy. "It's naive."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120649020055764009.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_topbox

[LakeSamish706]

1. Yeah, and look where that philosophy has gotten us, absolutely nowhere. n/t

[chocome]

3. Saying you'll talk to Syria no matter what undercuts Washington's position

Saying you'll talk to Syria no matter what undercuts Washington's position, said Emile El-Hokayem, a Middle East expert at the Henry L. Stimson Center, a nonpartisan Washington think tank. I don't think it's feasible to revolutionize how diplomacy is conducted" with Damascus.

[cliffordu]

11. NIxon went directly to China for a little chat...

you could go back to Freeperville and do some direct talking yo'self......

[KingOfLostSouls]

2. uh

the only two foreign policy "experts" they cite in that article are john mccain's national security advisor (great source there) and someone from henry l. stimpson institute.


and judging by the number of the post the simple question really is: freeper?

[TahitiNut]

13. What else to expect from the Wall Street Journal?

(DU sure seems to be attracting fans of right wing media lately.)

[MadBadger]

4. Bill Richardson disagrees

Sighting his willingness to do this as one of the reasons he supports Obama

[PerfectSage]

5. So how many quagmires and blowbacks has standard US doctrine produced?

Standard US doctrine is as worthless as shit from a grand strategic perspective.

http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/boyd_grand_strategy.htm

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. The "establishment" has produced such sterling results...haven't they?

Not to mention millions of dead.

[bowens43]

7. yes, lets just continue bushes policies like Hillary would.....

once again, we see that there is virtually no difference between bush, hillary and McCain. Thanks for pointing this out once again.

[chocome]

12. Obama Agrees with Cheney on Iran**All options on the table**

Senator Obama, speaking at the American-Israeli Political Action Committe (AIPAC) Policy Forum on March 2:

The world must work to stop Irans uranium enrichment program and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. It is far too dangerous to have nuclear weapons in the hands of a radical theocracy. And while we should take no option, including military action, off the table, sustained and aggressive diplomacy combined with tough sanctions should be our primary means to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Iranian nuclear weapons would destabilize the region and could set off a new arms race. Some nations in the region, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, could fall away from restraint and rush into a nuclear contest that could fuel greater instability in the region—that’s not just bad for the Middle East, but bad for the world, making it a vastly more dangerous and unpredictable place. Other nations would feel great pressure to accommodate Iranian demands. Terrorist groups with Iran’s backing would feel emboldened to act even more brazenly under an Iranian nuclear umbrella. And as the A.Q. Kahn network in Pakistan demonstrated, Iran could spread this technology around the world.


http://americanfuture.net/?p=2636

[Fire_brand]

8. the "foreign-policy establishment" has done just a crackerjack job the last 8 years

[Recursion]

9. Yup, that's why our North Korea isolation plan worked

Oh, right, it didn't. We got the worst of both worlds and ended up having to go back to the bargaining table with our tail between our legs.

20 years ago, it would have worked. We don't hold the cards anymore and other countries know that. The sooner we come to grips with that fact, the sooner we have a foreign policy that defends our interests rather than our interest groups.

[SoxFan]

10. Citing McCain's foreign policy advisor?

[JTFrog]

14. A New Age: Brought to you by - The Misspoken Misspeakers!!!

Yeah I'm gonna trust these guys when it comes to foreign policy!!! :rofl: :rofl:

After citing numerous articles from the time, referring to the danger, and how unusual it was for a first lady to travel to such a war-torn place, Team Clinton conceded she "misspoke" about the sniper fire. And running with, "our heads down," from the airport.

Clinton herself told the editorial boards of the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer that she �misspoke.� Further clarifying her comments, she said the pilot aboard her aircraft had warned there was sniper fire in the area at the time when she was arriving in Tuzla.


"I say a lot of things -- millions of words a day -- so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement," she said.

John McCain tries to do damage control on his ridiculous photo op in the Baghdad market that required a small Army to show us that it was safe there. His visit required 100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, two Apache gunships overhead, hidden snipers and bulletproof vests. His excursion included a Rug Shopping Spree at an Iraqi street vendor with Senator Lindsey (�I bought 5 rugs for 5 bucks�) Graham (R-SC) and Rep. Mike (�like a normal outdoor market in Indiana�) Pence (R-IN).

McCain said he regrets comments he made after a tour of Baghdad last Sunday, when he said he could see progress and the American people were not being told the �good news� about the war, according to excerpts of his comments and a press release provided by �60 Minutes.�

��Of course I am going to misspeak and I�ve done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do it in the future,� said McCain, according to �60 Minutes�. McCain acknowledged in this �60 Minutes� interview that he had been accompanied by heavy security during his trip.