With each passing day, the vapidness of the Obama administration’s foreign policy becomes more clear. Lofty words spoken in the capitals of Europe and the Middle East were just words. From the warm embrace of the bully Hugo Chavez, to the cynical mixed-messages on the Iran protests, Obama has shown a willingness to “work with” repressive regimes hostile to the United States while ignoring friends.
Now it is Honduras, where Obama sides with Manuel Zelaya, a Chavez-prototype who tried to put himself in a perpetual presidency, in violation of Honduran court orders to the contrary. The evidence is overwhelming that had the Honduran military not acted, Honduras would have gone the way of Venezuela.
When is Obama going to learn that you cannot work with the Hugo Chavez’s and Mahmood Ahmadinejad’s of the world. That doesn’t mean military action, but it does mean standing up to them on the world stage, and supporting our friends.
The world loves to pick on small nations standing up to tyrants. Which is why is it not surprising that the international community so quickly has coalesced around isolating Honduras. As with perpetual attacks on Israel at the United Nations and other international organizations, the position of the United States is critical to Honduras. Will we stand with our friend, or join the mob?
John Kennedy’s speech in Berlin in 1963 says it all. Then, the battle line was in Berlin and the enemy was communism. This weekend, the city is Tegucigalpa and the tyranny is Chavez-style ego-socialism.
Sure, Honduras is not perfect, but the choice of the people, the courts, and the legislature not to allow Zelaya to gain a stranglehold on power, like Zelaya’s friend Chavez, should be respected. Substitute names and places, and the point of Kennedy’s speech applies as much today as it did almost a half-century ago:
There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.
Obama should fly to Honduras and give a “Let them come to Tegucigalpa” speech. But he won’t. Because Obama’s no John Kennedy.
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Comments
Obama is no John Kennedy and Obama is so far over his head, he can't be anyone except Obama. The luster is waring off and he's being to be seen as a politician when he should be seen as a leader.
The President has a winning foreign policy. Just because the real 'evil empire' has been revealed to be Israel, Honduras and Columbia doesn't mean His Followers in academia and the media cannot feel real pain for the losers running around downtown Tehran and Caracas. But, it was George Bush’s policy of ‘non-engagement’ with the leaders of the oppressed that encouraged those poor, misguided ignorants into speaking Truth to Power. The Won will show us the way. Down with Tegucigalpa! Viva Daniel in Managua! We have Hope for the future!
"Obama has shown a willingness to "work with" repressive regimes hostile to the United States while ignoring friends."
I wish all Obama did was "ignore" friends. In his efforts to work with tyrannical regimes, Obama has actively undermined the positions of several US allies, most notably Israel– but also including Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and others.
I can't decide if it's because he is foolish and naive or if he actively wishes to change the US stance toward these currently allied countries. I think it's the former.
Everyone is backing Zelaya.
To back a military who feels it can "constitutionally oust" a president by barging into his home at 5am, shoot at his guards, toss him on a plane and dump him in Costa Rica, is a fatal mistake in a region that, until the 80s, used this kind of method too indiscriminately.
Try to understand that Obama's foreign policy is unique in the history of the USA.
Obama tries not to anger the people of countries of Honduras or Iran with inflammatory "strong-man" words. He does not act out foreign policy puffing out his chet like Chavez does, but instead tries to smooth over issues while not seeming like a pushover to the (rather violent and bloodthirsty) American people.
I was raised in Costa Rica, and we had about lost respect for the USA under Reagan and Bush the Second, a country we would like so hard to respect as an ally and a partner. However, "tough talk" from Americans produces two different results: popularity at home, and animosity abroad. Obama has the goodwill at home to be able to corectly choose the latter(riskier) move and say what other countries want to hear.
American bloggers and journalists often forget that ill will towards the USA is a powerful force, and that one must truly step on eggshells in foreign policy – not to placate countries like Honduras, but to keep them from turning to the other aggressive morons, like Chavez, Ortega and Ahmadinejad.
My conclusion: lay off the critique of Obama as an inconsistent lush in foreign policy until you study the social climate and history of a) the world b) Central America and c) Honduras. As a longtime resident of the area, I believe Obama is doing the right thing – fairly condemning a troublesome political move to oust an equally troublesome politician (who is not as similar to Chavez as you make it seem – both are merely hungry for allies), while not angering the catrachos
Obama sides with Zelaya because of a shared philosophy.
Obama's behavior toward Iran and now Honduras simply highlight that fact that Obama has more faith in Government, than PEOPLE, and views them as two entirely separate entities.
The luster is waring off and he's being to be seen as a politician when he should be seen as a leader.
Precisely, railrider. And, on the international stage this will probably begin to show as well.
MAJOR insights from Sultan Knish: "…Chavez was deeply involved with the FARC narcoterrorists in Venezeula. The suborning of several Latin American nations with leaders like Zelaya who had close ties to Chavez and shared a common left wing agenda– was meant to pave the way for drug smuggling operations into the US.
Considering that FARC had contacts with some Obama people, and Chavez is best buds with Prince Barry, it might be worth asking how much of Obama's dirty campaign cash was drug money, and if that isn't why the Obama Administration is so feverishly backing Zelaya's restoration to power, in order to keep the drug pipeline open?" – http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2009/07/friday-afternoon-roundup-america-iran.html
"Every constitution then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of nineteen years. If it is to be enforced longer, it is an act of force, and not of right." Thomas Jefferson
It seems to me that holding a public poll to change the constitution is what Jefferson would've wanted. But of course, the GOP sides with the oppressive congress who attempted to block such a poll.
Also, the public poll that was going to "remove" Zelaya from office was to be held on election day. On that day he would've had to resign under Honduras law, but their are no legal grounds that I can see of removing him before that date. Even after he was forcefully removed from office, their is no legal reason to have him deported. The Honduras military's chief lawyer, Colonel Herberth Bayardo Inestroza Membreño said this:
"In the moment that we took him out of the country, in the way that he was taken out, there is a crime."
So even Zelayas opponents admit they commited crimes in the way they handled the situation.
Actually, Reign, under Honduran law anyone attempting to alter the 6 core principles of the Constitution (which definitely include term limits) other than the legislature using prescribed steps forfeits Honduran citizenship. So, like Obugabe, Manuel's-a-Liah isn't even now qualified to be a citizen of Honduras, much less a President.
It is interesting to note that when the year 1809 hit Jefferson did not call for a constitutional convention. Indeed, such a thing would be impractical, and Jefferson realized that fact as much as anybody.
"My conclusion: lay off the critique of Obama as an inconsistent lush in foreign policy until you study the social climate and history of a) the world b) Central America and c) Honduras. As a longtime resident of the area, I believe Obama is doing the right thing – fairly condemning a troublesome political move to oust an equally troublesome politician (who is not as similar to Chavez as you make it seem – both are merely hungry for allies), while not angering the catrachos"
You say you're from the area, but my wife and her five adult kids are from there, and Obama is doing the WRONG thing. Obama supporters living there are livid against his wrong-headed stupid policy.
They hate the way Obama is now the big bully and joining in beating up on Honduras. Zelaya had already set his auto-coup in progress and the next step was to send his paid thugs to dissolve Congress after he published his phony counts on Sunday evening.
The Congress was elected by the same people in the same election as Zelaya, and they made his termination officially and constitutional recognized on June 28 on a long list of constitutional and legal grounds, voting 128-4!
You don't avoid looking like the bully you were before, by beating up on a new victim! Hondurans are not stupid and they don't want a dictator! Venezuelans are not stupid either, they know who the bullies are! Mayor Ledesma said Honduras should send them a good set of cojones!
Viva free Honduras!
Down with coup plotter Mel Zelaya!
Down with expansionist imperialist Hugo Chavez!
Up with democracy!
Presidents are NOT above the law in Honduras!
–Alan
(proudly married to a gal from Honduras)