Obama's 'coddling' is now Trumpian diplomacy
Let us ponder what the reaction among Republicans and conservatives would have been if President Obama had done what President Trump did on Tuesday:
Sat down with a dictator whose regime had killed hundreds of thousands of people and who tortures and enslaves as many as 130,000 political prisoners in gulags.
Set no specific preconditions for the meeting and secured no commitment on human rights nor any firm promise to denuclearize.
Blindsided allies by agreeing to the dictator’s request to cease “provocative” military exercises with those allies.
Praised the dictator in lavish terms: “very talented man … wants to do the right thing … funny guy … loves his people … great personality … a great honor … I do trust him.”
But we don’t have to wonder what the reaction would have been to Obama doing such things, because we know what happened when he even floated the idea. In 2007, then-Sen. Obama answered in the affirmative when asked if he would be willing to meet without precondition the leaders of repressive regimes, including North Korea’s, “to bridge the gap that divides our countries.”
His presidential opponent John McCain and other Republicans hit Obama near daily for what they deemed “inexperience and reckless judgment.” (Hillary Clinton gave him grief, too.) Later, Sarah Palin, specifically mentioning North Korea, proclaimed the Obama doctrine was “coddling enemies and alienating allies.”
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John Bolton, now Trump’s national security adviser, in 2013 mocked the “fanciful” idea “that we could talk North Korea out of its nuclear weapons program.”
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/milbank-obamas-coddling-is-now-trumpian-diplomacy/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=b8dcc6a6da-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-b8dcc6a6da-228635337