After more than 60 years of sanctions on Cuba for their oppressive communist system and their hostility to us, President Obama announces we will end this pressure to become a decent nation that respects its people.
As we rely on sanctions to counter Russia's invasion and annexation of Ukrainian territory, President Obama has just announced that if you just endure our initial sanctions, eventually they will peter out and ultimately be cancelled--with many Americans calling you the victim of all this--without you having to change your course, at all.
The lack of self-awareness reaches levels not seen since President Obama's September 10th speech in which he announced we had to return American troops to Iraq this year after leaving in 2011 and in the same speech announced we'd withdraw all our troops from Afghanistan in two years.
I wonder if Kerry will take a
Good grief, I really do look back on the Carter era as a time of relative foreign policy sanity compared to the idiocy we have now.
UPDATE: Here's the White House page on this.
UPDATE: It is obscene and ignorant to compare the easing of sanctions on Cuba to tearing down the Berlin Wall:
"Today another Wall has started to fall," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement. "These moves represent a victory of dialogue over confrontation."
Well, I've long said that "Europe" can't be our friend even though European states can be.
In twenty years, nobody will be saying "only Obama can go to Cuba."
UPDATE: Stratfor has thoughts on the impact on Venezuela.
They also note that Cuba, which turned to Venezuela for financial support when Soviet support dried up (when the Soviet Union disappeared), finds that Venezuelan financial support probably isn't that secure given Venezuela's own financial implosion.
So Cuba hopes that we can provide the financial help to save Cuba's dictatorship. Hey, we provided the help that is keeping Iran's head above water. Why not Cuba, too?
I understand that in theory we may hope that opening up Cuba will undermine their dictatorship. But Cuba clearly believes that they can maintain their dictatorship and save it with this restoration of relations.
So just who do you really believe is practicing "smart" diplomacy?
UPDATE: I imagine the president is disappointed that his action came too late (see the first update) to be considered for this year's Confucius Peace Prize.
UPDATE: Not so long ago, I noted that Cuba was screwed as they lost paying patrons, and wondered if China would be so bold as to pick up the tab.
I did not suspect that we'd bid for the honor.
