gandalf: I don’t think casca likes Jets fans, either!
Okay, on a more serious note: I would assess Obama’s foreign policy position on his pronoucements regarding engaging other countries in dialogue as well as his statements on potential US intervention(s).
The Zakaria article was a lofty piece of sophistry that did absolutely nothing in terms of articulating Obama’s policy positions.
We do have Obama himself discussing having peer-to-peer discussions with Syria and Iran, as well as intervening in Pakistan (which he did fail to recognize as a sovereign nation). I don’t think engaging renegade states like Syria or Iran is a conservative position, nor do I feel it is a very “realistic” position, rather I think it does display a fairly breathtaking naivete.
He does not have a good grasp of history and that alarms me also. Please remember that Neville Chamberlain was not some idealistic fool, either. He was an experienced British politician and Prime Minister, but made the fatal mistake of treating Hitler in good faith and expecting the same in return. For Chamberlain, the specter of WWI was only a generation removed, and he was determined to avoid another repeat of a European war. Hitler, on the other hand, was a self aggrandizing madman who would stop at nothing to achieve his vision of a Pan-Germanic Europe, including going to war. He was militarizing Germany in direct contravention of the Versailles Treaty and the British and French policies of appeasement were only fuelling his belief that they were too weak willed to openly confront him and risk war. Sound familiar?
To me, it sounds very much like the situation with Iran and President I-Am-a-Dinner-Jacket. Continued European dissembling, combined with any sort of serious response or willingness to confront him has resulted in the present situation. Does engaging in further dialogue here help? Does having a strong grasp of history help? Does understanding the nature of the regime, the people and the motivations? And, I am not saying the McCain is possessed of a modicum more understanding than Obama is. Let me be very clear about that. I find his singing “bomb Iran” to the strains of the Beach Boys “Barbara Ann” chilling as hell.
