That line from Gary Bauer is about the best way to describe Obama’s fall and winter foreign policy “overtures.” His actions yesterday as regards Cuba are essentially and overwhelmingly beneficial to the Castro regime in Cuba. They are in spite of Congress which has insisted on maintaining sanctions against Cuba for its continued fostering of terrorism and brutality towards the Cuban people.
In November we became aware of revelations about overtures by Obama to Iran’s dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They are in spite of Congress’ firm objections along with the free world and our allies in the Persian Gulf, that a sworn belligerent like Iran should not be helped to develop nuclear weapons. Obama is now comfortable with just delaying it rather than stopping it and has set about disregarding enforcement of sanctions Congress passed. Khamenei prefers official lifting of sanctions but understands the complications of dealing with a congress (actually he doesn’t) but he is OK with that.
Isn’t a proclivity toward activities in disregard of Congressional intent a pattern of dictators? Are not such congresses window dressing? Anyway here are some excerpts from various commentaries regarding Obama’s desire to Habanera with the Castro boy’s.
From DLH . . . Despite having just eaten lunch, I forced myself to watch El Jefe, our Presidente, Barack “Fidel” Obama inform us hicks on his real deep thoughts which led to his latest executive “flexibility” regarding Communist Cuba. In his usual glib fashion, Obama explained how wrong America and his Oval Office predecessors have been for the past 55 years. But now, He, the Messiah, has come, to right this wrong and free Americans to get all the Cuban cigars they desire.
Then, I turned to hear the other side of the Cuba issue. And, it’s pretty grim.
I believe when it’s all said and done, the overriding issue before the United States of America, is the question of whether, over the next two years, this nation will survive the all out efforts of Barack Obama to turn it into a defacto Socialist/Communist dictatorship. And, will the Republican establishment do any more about it than passively try to slow his progress toward it?
Read Mike Gonzales writing at The Federalist. President Obama Didn’t Tell the Whole Story About Cuba Link to this article for an excellent point by point rebuttal of Obama’s Cuba statement.
From National Review’s Morning Jolt . . . with Jim Geraghty today:
Ah, the Obama administration. A short while after insisting that their latest round of economic sanctions will put a halt to Vladimir Putin and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, they turn around and normalize relations with Cuba because the embargo “hasn’t worked.”
To get Bowe Bergdahl back, the United States took five of the worst captured killers in Guantanamo Bay and released them to Qatar. To get the release of Alan Gross, an American aid worker illegally detained in 2009, Obama normalized relations with Cuba. Do you notice that Obama’s “concessions” to get prisoners back always involve him doing something he wanted to do anyway? . . .
It would be easier to support this move if there was a way to see how this would help the average Cuban, instead of further lining the pockets of the Castro brothers . . .
Is the idea that we’ll influence the island nation so that the average Cuban will be as free as the average Chinese?
Even if you thought the embargo was ineffective, it is exceptionally dangerous for the United States to give a hostile regime everything it wants for releasing an American.
Marco Rubio (son of Cuban immigrants) slams Obama (bold emphasis ours):
“The President’s decision to reward the Castro regime and begin the path toward the normalization of relations with Cuba is inexplicable. Cuba’s record is clear. Just as when President Eisenhower severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, the Castro family still controls the country, the economy and all levers of power. This administration’s attempts to loosen restrictions on travel in recent years have only served to benefit the regime. While business interests seeking to line their pockets, aided by the editorial page of The New York Times, have begun a significant campaign to paper over the facts about the regime in Havana, the reality is clear. Cuba, like Syria, Iran, and Sudan, remains a state sponsor of terrorism. It continues to actively work with regimes like North Korea to illegally traffic weapons in our hemisphere in violation of several United Nations Security Council Resolutions. It colludes with America’s enemies, near and far, to threaten us and everything we hold dear. But most importantly, the regime’s brutal treatment of the Cuban people has continued unabated. Dissidents are harassed, imprisoned and even killed. Access to information is restricted and controlled by the regime. That is why even more than just putting U.S. national security at risk, President Obama is letting down the Cuban people, who still yearn to be free.
“I intend to use my role as incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Western Hemisphere subcommittee to make every effort to block this dangerous and desperate attempt by the President to burnish his legacy at the Cuban people’s expense. Appeasing the Castro brothers will only cause other tyrants from Caracas to Tehran to Pyongyang to see that they can take advantage of President Obama’s naiveté during his final two years in office. As a result, America will be less safe as a result of the President’s change in policy. When America is unwilling to advocate for individual liberty and freedom of political expression 90 miles from our shores, it represents a terrible setback for the hopes of all oppressed people around the globe.”
Gary Bauer writes of Christmas for Dictators –
Dictators all over the world are receiving the gift they desired most — America handcuffed by a president intent on giving them whatever they want. Yesterday it was the Castro brothers turn to sit on Obama’s lap and get their goodies.
Cuba’s communist government has its back against the wall. Russia is reeling from falling oil prices and couldn’t bail Cuba out. The same is true for Cuba’s socialist ally, Venezuela. And then along comes “Obama Claus.”
Even the liberal Washington Post’s lead editorial today accused Obama of giving Cuba a “bailout.” The Post editors wrote: “President Obama granted the regime everything on its wish list. . .” They quoted Cuba’s leading dissident blogger, Yoani Sanchez, who said yesterday, “Castroism has won,” and sadly observed that freedom fighters like her in Cuba will have to endure the gloating of their oppressors.
While Obama was speaking to the American people yesterday and claiming that our “isolation” of the Cuban regime was a failure (It was not a failure — it succeeded in marginalizing Cuba’s dictatorial government), Raul Castro spoke to the Cuban people for four minutes. He used his brief address to dig in his heels and defend his communist/socialist regime.
Congressional Republicans were loud and strong in their condemnation of Obama’s move, including Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Ted Cruz and Rep. Paul Ryan. But Senator Rand Paul broke ranks and said more trade with Cuba was “a good thing.” I don’t know what Paul’s strategy is, but siding with Obama, Hillary and Jimmy Carter doesn’t seem like a winner for 2016.
Elliott Abrams made perhaps the most insightful observation on the impact of Obama’s move. You can read it here. His point: The world just saw our 50-year old foreign policy on Cuba change in the blink of Obama’s eye — and not because Cuba changed for the better. Fears among our allies will grow that he could do the same rash thing with Iran or China.
Mark Alexander at The Patriot Post Obama’s Bay of Pigs
Nothing like making friends with commies to bring on the holiday spirit — peace on earth and good will and all that. Taking a break from complaining about being mistaken for a valet driver, Barack Obama announced Wednesday the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with the communist dictatorship of Cuba.
“Today,” Obama’s statement read, “the United States of America is changing its relationship with the people of Cuba.” Well, for starters, the U.S. has never had a problem with the people of Cuba; it’s the communist government with which our Liberty-loving nation has taken issue. But casting principle — not to mention law — aside, Obama extended to Cuba the hand of America’s friendship and tossed in an embassy to boot. It’s a metaphorical Bay of Pigs betrayal all over again.
As Red State’s Erick Erickson writes, Obama’s “mentor, communist activist Frank Marshall Davis, would be proud of him.”
The announcement came after 18 months of secret talks between the U.S. and Cuba and on the heels of Cuba’s releasing U.S. contractor Alan Gross, who had been imprisoned there since 2009. Cuba also released a U.S. intelligence agent who had been imprisoned for 20 years, while the U.S. let loose three convicted Cuban spies.
Yet Obama’s vain attempt to write a foreign policy success story accomplished nothing for Cubans, which is even more remarkable at a time when low oil prices have weakened Cuban sponsors Venezuela and Russia. In other words, the U.S. was in prime position to negotiate for human rights improvements in Cuba. Instead, Obama just offered Cuba a huge influx of dollars for nothing in return.
In heralding this Christmas gift to Fidel and Raul Castro, a senior administration official said, “We are charting a new course toward Cuba. The president understood the time was right to attempt a new approach, both because of the beginnings of changes in Cuba and because of the impediment this was causing for our regional policy.” Translation: Not to worry, Castro brothers, we forgive you. Care for some U.S. economic investment?
Lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba will require congressional action, but that’s never stopped Obama before. As the Guardian reports, “The White House hopes that by using a series of executive actions to minimize its enforcement [of the embargo], it can provide a breakthrough that will encourage political reform in Cuba and soften political opposition in the US.” Congress and the Constitution be damned. Full speed ahead.
Of course, this is hardly surprising, seeing how well Obama was able to get away with amnesty, along with the fact that Congress has gone home for the holidays. And he’s never cared much for the Constitution or Rule of Law anyway.
The truth remains, though, that there is a reason the U.S. closed our embassy in Cuba in 1961 and imposed a trade embargo that same year. That reason was Castro’s oppressive regime. And that regime — and reason — still stand.
Cuban-Americans on both sides of the political aisle aren’t pleased with Obama’s actions. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), soon-to-be former chair of the powerful U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and whose parents came to America from Cuba just before his birth, said, “President Obama’s actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), incoming chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Western Hemisphere Subcommittee and whose parents, like Menendez’s, were Cuban immigrants, also slammed the president’s actions. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Rubio wrote, “The announcement by President Obama on Wednesday giving the Castro regime diplomatic legitimacy and access to American dollars isn’t just bad for the oppressed Cuban people, or for the millions who live in exile and lost everything at the hands of the dictatorship. Mr. Obama’s new Cuba policy is a victory for oppressive governments the world over and will have real, negative consequences for the American people.”
He also noted, “The opportunity for Cuba to normalize relations with the U.S. has always been there, but the Castro regime has never been interested in changing its ways. Now, thanks to President Obama’s concessions, the regime in Cuba won’t have to change.”
Other nations like Iran are taking note.
It remains to be seen whether Congress will at last take a stand against the president’s recklessness and uphold our constitutional government. In the meantime, somewhere, Comrades Castro are smiling.
More to read also from Mike Gonzales at the Heritage Foundation Obama Does Not Have the Authority to Lift Embargo on Cuba
R Mall w DLH
