Thursday, October 25, 2012

Colin, Cuba And Caution

Colin Powell has endorsed Barak Obama.  The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs under Bush 41 and Secretary of State under Bush 43 announced his endorsement today on “CBS This Morning.”
Powell’s long and distinguished career in public service makes him one of the most respected members of the Republican Party.  “I think I’m a Republican of a more moderate mold.” Powell said.  “That’s something of a dying breed, I’m sorry to say.”
In spite of his conservative leanings he voted for Obama in 2008 calling the new president a “transformational figure.”  His endorsement in this close election was highly coveted.
While discussing his endorsement he went on a detailed explanation of the circumstances the president faced upon taking office.  He detailed the steps the president took to fix the economy and concluded with:  ‘And I saw of the next several years, stabilization come back to the financial community, housing is now starting to pick up after four years, it’s starting to pick up.  Consumer confidence is rising. Generally we’ve come out of the dive and we’re starting to gain altitude.”
But Powell is best known for his distinguished military career; so his views on foreign policy are always of interest to us.
Commenting on the president’s handling of foreign policy, Mr. Powell said: “he saw the president get us out of one war, start to get us out of a second war, and did not get us into any new wars.  And finally I think the actions he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very solid.  And so, I think we ought to keep on the track we are on.”
Regarding Governor Romney’s views on foreign policy Powell said:  I have concerns about his views on  foreign policy…the governor who was saying things at the debate on Monday night…was saying things that were quite different from what he said earlier.  I’m not quite sure which Romney we would get with respect to foreign policy…His foreign policy is a moving target…And my concern is that sometimes I don’t sense that he has thought through these issues thoroughly as he should have.”
Fittingly, Colin Powell’s endorsement comes on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.  We are reminded of how close we came to a nuclear holocaust. 
In 1962 a U-2 spy aircraft took photos of Soviet missile installations in Cuba.  When confronted, the Soviets said that the Cuban missile facilities were in response to the United States installation of nuclear missiles in the UK, Italy and Turkey and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.  The United States considered attacking Cuba.  But President Kennedy understood the repercussions of a military attack.  Instead Kennedy decided on a military blockade to keep the missiles from reaching Cuban shores.  He called the blockade a “quarantine” as opposed to a direct act of war in order to give Khrushchev a way out.  He demanded that the Soviets dismantle the installations and return all offensive weapons to the USSR.  A number of Soviet ships tried to run the blockade.  One Soviet missile crew shot down a U-2 aircraft; an act that could have resulted in direct retaliation.  But Kennedy held firm and remained calm as negotiations continued.  Eventually the Soviets capitulated and removed the missiles in exchange for a promise by Kennedy not to invade Cuba.  The young president had stared down the Soviet bully…and won.
Historians tell us that Kennedy had consulted with Eisenhower as to the likelihood of Khrushchev firing the nuclear warheads if Kennedy chose to strike.  Eisenhower, the Commander-Chief of the allied forces in WWII told Kennedy that he didn’t believe Khrushchev would fire the missiles.  Kennedy remained unconvinced and patiently allowed negotiations to continue.
 It turns out Kennedy was right.  In his memoirs Khrushchev wrote that even if the US struck first he believed that one or two of his larger missiles would have survived.  And if that were the case he would have aimed them at New York and millions would have died.
While we were only 11 years old at the time we clearly remember the fear that gripped the country as the 13 day standoff drug on.  Caught up in the fantasy of Camelot, we wondered if our new young president would keep us safe.
Today we are reminded of those fearful times a half century ago.  And Colin Powell’s words remind us that we need a calm and steady hand directing our foreign policy.  Caution and patience always wins out in foreign policy.  The president has shown that he is up to the task.  Like Colin Powell, we don’t believe that the governor has thought through the issues as thoroughly as he should have.  You can’t just blow up Iran’s nuclear facilities and then go off and grab a beer.  There will be repercussions for taking military action.  None of them are good.
You would think Romney would know that.  After all 17 of Romney’s 24 foreign policy advisors served under George W. Bush. 
They should be well versed with repercussions and unintended consequsnces.                 
  

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