A Long Seven Months

I nearly just fell out of my chair after reading this article from the Post. Giving Iran seven months to prove peaceful aspirations for its nuclear program is far too long. If their intentions are solely for electricity, they could prove that today. Somebody call up Hans Blix. Oh wait, Kim Jong-Il fed him to the sharks.





Seven months is an eternity. This strategy sucks.


Additionally it looks like Obama's European/Middle East Apology Tour 2009 just got started today when he uttered the following:

What we want to do is open a dialogue. You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world. And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West.

Necessary question: Why are the misapprehensions on the part of those of us in the West "big" whilst the misapprehension on the part of the Muslim world are just simply misapprehensions?


The Obama School of foreign policy lacks a name at the moment (suggestions solicited), but it is summed up nicely by the idea that apologizing for one's country and its half-witted citizens coupled with the abandonment of sane and reasonable policies will yield the diplomatic results one pursues. It is most certainly not realism. The verdict remains out on this strategy. It's clear, however, that other counties (e.g. Russia and China) have heard the call of a wounded fawn in the woods. Does anyone else wish their president wasn't pursuing the Bambi-fication of the US, thereby greatly diminishing our ability to effectively encourage democratization, market-based economies and human rights throughout the world?





Re: Obama's speech on Thursday in Cairo: There are myriad issues with addressing the "Muslim world" from Egypt, not least of which is that 80% of Muslims are not Arab. I really hope that Obama elects to continue the tradition of pressuring repressive regimes (i.e. the Mubarak government) to pursue democratic reform and human rights improvements. And I hope he chooses not to make a shallow apology with hopes of some grand awakening to the kindness of the American spirit on the part of Arab Muslims. This is not a strategy for dealing with oppressive regimes. It is how you make appeals to children, not governments.

I think this t-shirt might need to have some dates added to it.