Nov
5
(Un)Smart Power
Filed Under American Politics, Foreign Policy
In terms of silly little mistakes, this administration is seriously incompetent when it comes to foreign policy (and incompetent on the big stuff too although that is by capitulative design.
First there was the cock-up over the gifts to Gordon Brown. The mis-translated “reset” button to Russia, which was not only incompetent but juvenile too. There was the informing of Poland of the abandonment of the missile shield on the anniversary of their invasion by Russia and his classic letter to ex-President Chirac in which he hoped “that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world”.
And now Hillary Clinton doesn’t even know the details of Israeli-Palestinian relations, hoping that the new Israeli capital will be in East Jerusalem (ie the bit with all the Palestinians in it):
And in a new twist Tuesday, Clinton made what appeared to be an inadvertent slip of the tongue in a television interview with the al-Jazeera network, referring to the goal of “an Israeli capital in east Jerusalem.”
It has not been U.S. policy to favor including east Jerusalem in an Israeli capital; the Palestinians claim it as their capital, and the issue is one of the most important and delicate points that would have to be settled in any final peace deal between the two parties.
Two Clinton aides monitoring the interview alerted her to the mistake and that portion of the interview was retaped so she could correct herself.
Nicolas Sarkozy thinks Obama is naive. To be frank, that’s putting it mildly. his whole administration naive, indecisive and lacking in basic diplomatic competence.
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3 Responses to “(Un)Smart Power”
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I think the host is getting pretty desperate here.
ndm
somehow I don’t think you would be so dismissive if it was the Bush administration making these gaffes.
Good post cabbie, well done.
Naive is too polite a word for the ‘gaff-er” in chief; I would choose ignorant. The trouble is that the Oracle has attached arrogance to his ignorance. That is very dangerous.
ndm seems famous for one-liners that go nowhere