Obama Should Take A Better Look At The History He Speaks Of
In this post, the author brilliantly contrasted Barack Obama’s proposed talks with Iran to those put forth by Defense Secretary Gates, by comparing what Gates was proposing to what Reagan did with the Soviet Union from a position of strength. He also compared Obama’s suggestion with how Kennedy met with Krushchev from a position of weakness, and how that did not work out so well.
Some guys in the New York Times also see the similarities between Obama and Kennedy.
But Kennedy’s one presidential meeting with Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier, suggests that there are legitimate reasons to fear negotiating with one’s adversaries. Although Kennedy was keenly aware of some of the risks of such meetings — his Harvard thesis was titled “Appeasement at Munich” — he embarked on a summit meeting with Khrushchev in Vienna in June 1961, a move that would be recorded as one of the more self-destructive American actions of the cold war, and one that contributed to the most dangerous crisis of the nuclear age.
If Barack Obama wants to follow in Kennedy’s footsteps, he should heed the lesson that Kennedy learned in his first year in office: sometimes there is good reason to fear to negotiate.
Right, because Iranian nukes will be in Cuba the day after talks commence.
You used to be smarter than this. What happened?
What?
I am simply pointing out the obvious in that Iran does not have the capapability of the U.S.S.R, just as Saddam did not have the capability of Nazi Germany.
Fear of the boogeyman is not a sound basis on which to decide foreign policy.
What do you want us to say to them HB?
“Ah you want to blow up Israel? Okay, that’s nice. You’re building a bomb? Yeah, okay”
Well, I would probably start by reminding them that Israel has the capability to nuke them out of existence from beyond the grave with submarines. Of course, they already know this, but at least then I could tell American “we-get-off-on warfare” conservatives that I “stood firm” against the
muslimterrorist *wink* threat.Iran’s been interested in obtaining a submarine fleet, or starting production of subs of their own.
You don’t need Cuba to launch missiles. You just need a few submarines.
So, you are saying now would be a good time to negotiate, while we still have the upper hand?