Foreign policy the way it should be:                                        Back

John Fitzgerald Kennedy & The Cuban Missile Crisis:

Kennedy spoke to the US people (and the Soviet government) in a televised address on October 22nd 1962. He confirmed the presence of the missiles in Cuba and announced the naval blockade as a quarantine zone of 500 nautical miles (926 km) around the Cuban coast, warned that the military was "prepared for any eventualities," and condemned the Soviet "secrecy and deception." The US was surprised at the solid support from its European allies and also from much of the remaining international community. He later negotiated with Nikita Khrushchev. The result was a tactical victory for the Soviets but a strategic loss that caused Khrushchev's fall from power a few years later

Richard Nixon opens trade with China

On June 10th 1970 The Nixon White House announces the end of its 21-year embargo on trade with China. On Oct. 20th. 1971  Henry Kissinger visits China to prepare for Nixon's upcoming trip. Oct 25th. 1971 After a week of intense debate, the U.N. General Assembly votes to admit the People's Republic of China and expel Nationalist China. U.S. ambassador to the U.N. George Bush later complains that Kissinger's presence in Beijing during the vote undercut the American effort to preserve Taiwan's seat.  Feb.  21st. - 27th. l972 President and Mrs. Nixon arrive in Beijing for a eight-day visit filled with official meetings, sightseeing and cultural events. On the first day, Nixon and Kissinger meet with Chou En-lai and Mao Tse-tung. That evening, the entire presidential party attends an official welcome banquet hosted by Chou En-lai in the Great Hall of the People. Feb 27th. Shanghai Communiqué, issued jointly by U.S. and China, pledges both countries to work for "normalization" of relations. In it, the U.S. acknowledges that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China, and agrees to withdraw its military forces from the island.

It takes time but anything worth doing is worth doing well. Nixon had many faults but none were diplomatic.

Jimmy Carter: The Camp David Accords:

President Jimmy Carter met with Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt & Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel from Sept. 5 - Sept. 17 1978 Those meetings the first ever between Egypt & Israel ended in the Camp David Accords (The first ever peace treaty between the two countries. A treaty that still stands today.)

On October 6, 1981 because of the accords, Anwar al-Sadat died at the hands of fundamentalists assassins. He gave his life for peace. Begin went to Cairo and walked to the funeral.

After the treaty was signed Menachem Begin cried our  “No more war. No more bloodshed. No more tears. Peace unto you. Shalom." Menachem Begin died in 1992 at the age of 78 from heart failure.

Both Men won the Nobel Peace Prize.

William Jefferson Clinton:   The Israel-Palestinian Negotiations

President Clinton presided over the historic 1993 Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles, the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel in 1994; the Interim Agreement on Palestinian self-rule in 1995, the Wye River Accords in 1998; and in 2000, from Camp David to Taba, brought the parties together for the first high-level discussions of all permanent status issues, and offered a proposal for a comprehensive peace, accepted by the Government of Israel but rejected by Yassar Arafat. After two years of renewed conflict, Arafat said he would accept the Clinton Plan. Though it hasn't worked all that well at least he tried.

Thanks to the Clinton Presidential Center for the article above.

George Bush Sr. The Gulf War

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2nd. 1990 President Bush froze Iraqi and Kuwaiti assets. & started diplomatic negations through the U. N.. He didn't rush to war. He took the time to solidify support around the world. It wasn't until Jan. 17th 1991 that he began the air war & Feb. 23rd that he sent in ground troops. Saddam Hussein seeing that he had no way to win, he couldn't get any support from other Arab countries, formally accepts terms of a cease fire.

George Bush didn't try to bring down the government of Iraq. He knew that the coalition he had built would have collapsed & he also saw what his son is now learning now. (A little too late.) That the removal of power in Iraq would lead to anarchy & we'd be in their for decades. I'm afraid that, now, we may be. John McCain when asked on CNN how long he thought we would be in Iraq said "probably twenty years." The President should have learned from his father.

Foreign policy the way it shouldn't be:

Ronald Wilson Reagan: Iran-Contra

The most damaging foreign-policy event of 1987 for President Reagan was the Iran-contra affair. Late in 1986 the administration admitted that it had been secretly selling arms to Iran, with some of the profits possibly going to the guerrillas in Nicaragua. Reagan claimed that he had not been informed of the Iran-contra link by national security adviser Vice Admiral John Poindexter or his aide, Lt. Col. Oliver North.  A Senate investigation resulted in the conviction of North and Poindexter on charges of obstructing justice and related offenses, though their convictions were later overturned on the ground that testimony given at their trials had been influenced by information they had supplied to Congress under a limited grant of immunity.

George Herbert Walker Bush   ????

Oh! I remember "France, Germany & Russia are old Europe. They're irrelevant."

Went to war in Iraq over the advice of some of his political advisors & the U. N. Didn't give the U. N. inspectors enough time, didn't build a viable coalition, didn't plan for the victory, didn't have an exit strategy and threw away all the empathy an good will of the people of the world.