Obama's 'Metastatic Gaffe' on Foreign Policy

justin-paulette

Justin Paulette

Justin Paulette is an attorney practicing international law in bella Italia. He hails from the great Buckeye State, "The Heart of it All," the only state with a bridge which you can cross and still be on the same side of the river, home of the hot dog, pop top soda can and the largest basket in the world! Though he's spent the past decade jet-setting across the Atlantic with one foot in London and the other on Capitol Hill, he still fancies himself a Mid-western, God-fearing, role-playing geek at heart.
Posted:
05/23/08

US Democratic presidential hopeful Illinois Senator Barack Obama speaks at a campaign stop at the Kissimmee Civic Center on May 21, 2008 in Kissimmee, Florida. Aside from his commitment to immediately withdraw military forces from Iraq, Barack Obama's major foreign policy declaration has been his promise to meet with antagonistic, dictatorial leaders in such nations as Iran and Palestine. Charles Krauthammer over at NRO posits Obama's stance on the issue as the snowballing of an initial gaffe.

Before the Democratic debate of July 23, Barack Obama had never expounded upon the wisdom of meeting - without precondition - with [dictators]. But in that debate, he was asked about doing exactly that. Unprepared, he said sure - then got fancy, declaring the Bush administration's refusal to do so was not just "ridiculous" but "a disgrace."


What started as a gaffe became policy. By now, it has become doctrine. Yet it remains today what it was on the day he blurted it out: an absurdity.

Krauthammer summarily dismisses Obama's claims that "engagement" has positive historical precedence, citing FDR, Truman and Kennedy as disproving Obama's assertions. Further, Krauthammer explodes the neophyte argument that such engagement would meet with success today.

A meeting with Ahmadinejad would not just strengthen and vindicate him at home, it would instantly and powerfully ease the mullahs' isolation, inviting other world leaders to follow. And with that would come a flood of commercial contracts, oil deals, diplomatic agreements - undermining precisely the very sanctions and isolation that Obama says he would employ against Iran.


As every seasoned diplomat knows, the danger of a summit is that it creates enormous pressure for results. And results require mutual concessions. That is why conditions and concessions are worked out in advance, not on the scene.

McCain has begun to frame the issue of his age as one of experience, wryly complimenting Obama for "doing very well" in the campaign thus far . . . for a "young man with very little experience" or "knowledge on the issues." The junior senator's need to overcome the perception of inexperience is not aided by his stubborn adherence to a cumbayah, we-are-the-world approach to the global war on terror.