Kerry rewrites U.S. foreign policy to fix Iraq wisecrack
Jules Crittenden
Some people seem to have an unerring instinct for the wrong side of history. You can rely on them, at critical moments, to abandon friends and accommodate evil, in the name of good.
Neville Chamberlain famously chose to talk with Adolph Hitler, and believed him when he agreed to peace in 1938. But Chamberlain was big enough a man to admit he was wrong in 1939, and to throw his support behind the winner when war broke out and he was politically beaten.
John Kerry has reversed that tragic historical formula. Politically beaten in 2004 in the midst of a war he supported but then rejected, he is now going to Syria to feel out a dictator’s mood for peace. He wants to hear what Bashir al-Assad’s thoughts are on Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iraq. The White House and State Department say this visit will only lend credibility to a meddling, unreliable dictator who routinely rejects U.S. proposals.
“I’m going to push them (the Syrians) on a number of different issues. I’m curious about what they might or might not be willing to do as we go forward here,” Kerry said last week. “Do they have any suggestions how the various equations in the region might be changed?”
No doubt about it: They do. ...
Halp Us All
Jules Crittenden
Jon Carry, in Iraq to make good with the Stuck, is headed to Syria to conduct some freelance foreign policy with an enemy of the United States, against the wishes of the administration which, headsup, like it or not, won the election.
The AP reports that Kerry's meeting with troops in Iraq "was very informative and very helpful in crystallizing some of my thoughts insofar as what we can negotiate ... and what needs to be accomplished. I certainly learned more about what the troops can or can't achieve," he said.
... Kerry declined to elaborate on how the visit affected his views on Iraq because his meetings continue Sunday. He is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a firsthand assessment on "what's possible in the political dynamics."
Kerry, a critic of Bush administration policies in Iraq, said the most important challenge now was to achieve "whatever success is possible."
Sounds a lot like Kerry, perhaps having learned a thing or two in the autumn of a political career that looked promising before it didn't, is trying not to commit himself before he does. By which I mean, stay with me here, because the logic is a tad pretzelian, Kerry reserves the right to be for success while being against it. Or against success while being for it. Sorry, I'm lost.
In any case, playing against an unpopular administration regardless of the consequences worked great 35 years ago. Too bad for Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, but one must have one's priorities straight. ...
