Rookie Mistake? Not So Fast
By Ruben Navarrette
The conventional thinking -- especially in Washington -- is that Barack Obama is flunking foreign policy. But this is one case where conventional thinking may be too closely tied to convention and not all that well thought out.
Yes, we've had a glimpse of the world according to Obama. And it doesn't look half bad.
Not the world itself, which is as dangerous and unpredictable as ever -- full of petty tyrants, enemies posing as friends, and rogue states in search of nuclear weapons.
I'm talking about the worldview of the junior senator from Illinois. What seemed like a rookie mistake -- i.e., suggesting that, as president, he'd meet with dictators from countries such as Cuba, Iran or North Korea-- may actually wind up serving Obama well.
First, it let him draw a distinction between himself and the front-runner. Hillary Clinton helped the cause when she blasted Obama's comments as "irresponsible and frankly naive."
That's baby boomer code for "young and immature." The 46-year-old Obama stresses the fact that he's of a different generation than his opponents. This was Clinton pushing back. She might as well have sent the whippersnapper to his room without dessert. After all, Clinton lectured, the president of the United States must be careful not to be used "for propaganda purposes."
But the idea of talking to rogue states such as Iran and Syria has been suggested before, most recently by the Iraq Study Group. Obama's critics insist that there's a difference between diplomatic envoys and a presidential visit. But that distinction may be lost on many Americans, who will embrace the larger point that Obama is making -- that presidents shouldn't just meet with people who always agree with them and tell them what they want to hear.
more...
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/08/rookie_mistake_not_so_fast.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
