Posted by
Andrews on Saturday, April 18, 2009 9:14:41 AM
I wrote before that Obama misunderstood history, leading him to try to "engage" Iran, based on the liberal belief that "glasnost" not Reagan's military escalation destroyed the Soviet Union. Now I see a similar error in his handling of Cuba. Cuba is on the verge of collapse, with the last of her charismatic leaders either dead or dying (officially only "recovering"), her economy in the tank, her patron states gone, she is not long for this world. However, Obama believes by "engaging" Cuba he will somehow bring reform faster than a blockade will. In reality, the lifting of blockade will only benefit Cuba, both economically and in giving legitimacy to her regime. It is a massive mistake, yet a predictable one given Obama's
Carter-like foreign policy and boundless faith in his own eloquence and the magic effects it has.
What is more surprising is the left-wing media's approval of this change. Everything the left once accused Bush of doing, oppressing homosexuals, imprisoning political opponents, stifling free speech, spying on people's library reading, listening to phone calls, all of those and much worse take place in Cuba daily, yet as Cuba is politically "on the left", the media somehow overlooks Cuba's systematic oppression of her citizens and advocates regular relations.
It makes no sense to me.
POSTSCRIPT
And before someone bring up Rumsfeld and Saddam, yes, for strategic reasons we supported both sides in the Iran-Iraq war at various times. However, that support was intended to achieve strategic goals. Precisely what do we gain by allowing Cuba to pretend they are a legitimate nation worthy of respect?