By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
The events of the last week prompt me to write a sequel to last week’s column about the general withdrawal of the United States from world affairs.
First, I retract my apology for having written that the Bust of Sir Winston Churchill in the Oval Office was returned by President Obama to the British. It was returned, and is now in the British embassy in Washington. Readers had, with perfect good faith, sent me a denial of that event from a White House official, which itself has now been retracted and made the subject of an apology from the official who wrote it.
The bust of Churchill in the White House residence is not the one that was in the Oval Office; it was a gift from the British government to President Lyndon Johnson and has remained in the residence through the terms of nine presidents, including the incumbent. Mr. Johnson was the president of the United States when Sir Winston died in 1965 and had intended to lead the American delegation to his funeral, which would have been the only time an incumbent American president attended the funeral of a former British prime minister, but he came down with influenza and the U.S. delegation was headed by President Eisenhower and Chief Justice Warren.
The brusque return of the Churchill bust, like the official American representation at Margaret Thatcher’s funeral earlier this year, by an already forgotten former ambassador to the country, illustrate the dilapidation of the alliance system under this administration and also illustrates the point I was making in last week’s column — though I now regret ever having raised the matter of that confounded effigy of Sir Winston.
Of course, President Obama doesn’t have to have a bust of Churchill in his office, but there are more diplomatic things to do with it than dump it at the British embassy, just as he might have bestirred himself earlier to nominate a serious ambassador to the Court of St. James, a position that has been held by five presidents, five unsuccessful candidates for president, two vice presidents and four secretaries of State of the U.S., and many other distinguished people, including the eminent writers George Bancroft and James Russell Lowell.
I promise not to raise this matter ever again in this column.
***
The intervening events that indicate that the U.S. administration is deliberately diminishing American influence in all the theatres of the world are the imbroglio over Edward Snowden in Russia, and the ludicrous fiasco of the visit of Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham to Egypt on the conceit that they have some standing to announce and enact American foreign policy.
On the Russian front, Joe Biden’s infamously facile and simplistic reference to pushing the “reset button” in Russo-American relations looks more absurd than ever. The Obama administration has practiced over four years of appeasement of the Russians, including shortchanging the Poles and Czechs on missile defense and effectively admitting the legitimacy of the Russian first strike capacity for Central and Western Europe, and reducing nuclear armaments while failing to enlist any Russian support in discouraging Iran and North Korea from becoming nuclear military powers.
The Snowden affair is an embarrassment from every possible angle. He was only a contractor, and it is shocking that he was able to download and remove and give away as much secret American surveillance information as he did; it makes a Swiss cheese of American national security confidentiality. And the cavalier manner in which the Chinese and Russians have given the backs of their hands to American attempts at extradition illustrates again the declining influence of the United States in the world. President Nixon or Reagan almost certainly would have been able to find something to trade those powers that did not affront American national integrity, in exchange for the return, or at least denial of asylum, to Snowden.
But it also must be said that Mr. Snowden’s father, a retired officer of the U.S. Coast Guard, and his lawyer, have made a very effective case on television for the impossibility of Edward Snowden obtaining a fair trial if he were to face justice in the United States. Nobody does, as has been discussed in this space before — since prosecutors win 99.5% of their cases, so stacked is the procedural deck in their favor. And they win 100% of the cases where the accused is branded by the president of the U.S. as guilty and by prominent members of the Congress and administration day after day in the national media as a traitor and a monstrous criminal.
The facts are that no country should have an extradition treaty with the United States; it is not, in criminal matters, a society of laws at all. Still, the United States is the world’s premier democracy and it does not lie in the mouths of the leaders of lawless dictatorships such as China and Russia, where dissenters are imprisoned and tortured, to invoke specious legal niceties as they stick their thumbs in the eye of the United States.
As for the McCain-Graham trip to Cairo, the senators had no mandate whatever to make foreign policy, but took it upon themselves to tell the Egyptian government that the Senate would not vote the customary military aid budget to Egypt if the followers of the ousted Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, were not treated equitably. This sort of meddlesome egotism is misplaced when the Muslim Brotherhood is the beneficiary, and is far beyond the jurisdiction of two wandering legislators from Arizona and South Carolina. The Middle East is complicated enough without every pair of elected officials in Washington imagining that they can speak for America abroad.
Perambulating senators make up foreign policy as they go, as President Obama, sand-bagged by the Congress, tries to regulate rather than legislate social policy. If this is how the United States is to govern itself, it does itself and the world a favor by scaling back its international ambitions. But it can’t withdraw and remain, any more than a person can suck and blow, at the same time.
The Cold War was won by presidents who practiced peace through strength, particularly Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon and Reagan: Berlin, Korea, the Marshall Plan, NATO, Atoms for Peace, Open Skies, Detente, SDI. If the United States is not prepared to be strong, it is correct to pull back. But when it withdraws, it should shed the illusion that it is in any position to coerce the Russians, or even the Egyptians, into anything, and will only embarrass itself when it tries.
Some people have no shame – Conrad Black must be one of those people. Give it up Conrad. Go retire. You have done your damage and now you want to make a comeback??
Expostulating upon events that circle about Mr. Obama’s presidency is an activity that can only be appreciated by journalists, since they make their daily bread by forming theories and expounding upon them, with each event requiring a new set of understandings. Not truly so with Mr. Obama.
By following Alinsky’s dictate about never allowing a problem to be resolved with compromise, Mr. Obama is pursuing a transparent policy that can be understood by anyone. Everyone becomes the victim of Mr. Obama’s failure to create meaning and structure. Kindly turn off the volume when watching Mr. Obama. His words are meaningless. He has no plans. He has no view of the future, since he cannot get past the principle of conflict. By “withdrawing” from Iraq, he has permitted and encouraged internecine warfare. By weakening and ultimately killing Qaddafi, he encouraged conflict in Libya and gave diverse groups access to his considerable arsenal. By taking both sides serially in Syria, he has allowed slaughter to develop to the point of genocide. By insisting upon the inclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood in any future Egyptian governmental endeavor, he has laid the groundwork of future perpetual conflict. By pushing for a “solution of the Palestinian problem,” he takes a difficult problem and makes it worse by many fold. By taking power through the use of administration regulations, he has provided a serious challenge to our previous stability and balance of powers. By actively seeking to flood the country with people who will not assimilate “live and let live” standards – Muslims, not to put too fine a point on it – he has set the stage for future conflict in America. I cannot think of any action he has taken that does not make things more conflict-laden. That is his only overriding rule of interaction. He did not read his own healthcare proposal. Why? Because as long as it creates conflict, that’s just peachy-keen.
It is the media’s only choice, given its reliance upon words, to parse Mr. Obama verbal productions to decipher his meaning. As with schizophrenic speech, there is no meaning whatsoever to Mr. Obama’s pronouncements, so the task is futile and demeaning (pun intended). However, understanding immediately follows, as I have said, when we press the mute button.
“America has the gall to tell us where we can live in Jerusalem and our Biblical homeland, and where we cannot. That certainly is not blessing the Jewish People.”
Well said, Yamit. Very well said. If you’re going to be a “friend of Israel,” you’d better be constant and you’d better be careful. “G-D is in Heaven and you are upon Earth, therefore let your words be few.” “He who meddles in a contention not belonging to him is like one who takes a dog by the ears.”
“What is this supposed to mean? It sounds like more leftist crap.”
Simply put, these are the words of a man who has done serious time in the Big House. Conrad Black here is empathizing with fellow criminals. It has nothing to do with the Right or the Left; it has to do with deeply held ill feelings toward the American justice system. Black had a taste of the real world and doesn’t like it. Any justice system, or anyone representing that justice system, that now exists in that real world he hates, which is understandable considering the Big House is not a very nice place to spend one’s time.
NormanF Said:
A distinction without a difference. In Judaism Justice is what G-d say it is. The individual has no standing since Sinai when we are addressed by G-d only in the plural (collective). This explains the holocaust and will explain future ones. Every Jew is responsible for the others.
Would American Jews Have Told Moses to Get Lost?
Get out while you can.
The reason for America’s precarious economic situation is clear. At the beginning of our history, God informs Abraham that he will be a blessing to the world. The nations that are good to Abraham’s offspring will be blessed, and the nations that suppress Israel will be cursed. In the past, the United States helped the State of Israel in many ways, but now, instead of helping Israelis settle all of the Land that God gave to the Jews, America has the gall to tell us where we can live in Jerusalem and our Biblical homeland, and where we cannot. That certainly is not blessing the Jewish People. So it isn’t surprising that America is being threatened with economic collapse – along with Europe and the rest of the countries that are against our free and unlimited settlement in the Land of our Forefathers. The first plague in Egypt turned the Nile River to blood. Rashi explains that when God punishes a nation, He begins by punishing their gods. The Egyptians worshipped the Nile, just as America worships money. That’s why America’s economy has been taking a beating. The only solution is to stop pressuring Israel not to build in Jerusalem and the rest of Biblical Israel. If America hopes to escape the financial collapse that is coming, the United States must support Israel’s settlement in every way it can. As God told Abraham – whoever blesses the Children of Abraham will be blessed, and whoever curses them will be cursed in return. In the meantime, it’s time for the Jews of America to get out of the country with their money while they can. All of a sudden, all the money in America will be frozen by the US Treasury in order to bail out the government dept, just like the Pharaoh did in Egypt during the famine. So, brothers and sisters, don’t wait. Get out while you can.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/felafel-on-rye/get-out-while-you-can/2012/12/31/ | The Jewish Press
@ yamit82:
I read the link and this is not mere words! In my life, I’ve seen G-d involved in too many things to dismiss them as coincidences or the mere workings of fate. G-d is not only the author of history, He is responsible for everything that happens in the world. When we must know something, G-d will relate it to us through a deed. For those who believe, that is sufficient.
My view is the Jewish belief in justice is why there is One G-d. Other peoples believed in a multiplicity of virtues and so they concluded a separate god must be responsible for each one of them. If you believe in justice, only one standard exists and only One G-d must lay it down. This is a revolution in world affairs. How important is it? Well – when the Jews sin as they are grievously about to do, they acknowledge this standard in fact exists.
And for that they will pay the price because G-d takes notice and injustice is a grievous affront to Him. We cannot be indifferent and for those of us who protest against it and find our voice, rest assured we are heard in Heaven. In the end, things have a way of working out for our benefit, as long we trust in G-d!
NormanF Said:
@ Laura:
The G-d of History
HUH??? Is black Joking? reagan swapped arms through iran contra. furthermore there is the appearance of an iran hostage set up and release on the day of reagans inauguration. It was suggested Iran was paid to hold the hostages until carter was out. I know this is not correct because a US president of such high apparent moral standing would never be involved in such a thing.
black shines little light here. appearances bear Black out but facts state otherwise. Benghazigate proves that the US was highly involved in supplying, training, running arms to AQ jihadis in Libya and syria for well over a year to two and then pretending to be on the fence about supplying potential terrorists.. perhaps black is unaware of this shift to clandestine tactics
the very fact that they had no official standing screams that they are a red herring. Is black saying that McCain, who is the mouthpiece for supplying jihadis in Syria, is unaware that Obama has been supplying them for almost 2 years. Perhaps it would be wiser to realize that he knows, and is part of the smoke and mirrors act. Creating the appearance of dissension where none exists. Saudi who is funding Sissi is hing MB to fight in syria. the anti american show is to prop up Sisi standing with egyptian street dummies.
Blacks tirade about extradition is related to his own case. I think that Black is either out of the loop or a rambling anachronism.
I seriously question this claim. Clearly the deck is stacked in favor of the accused. There are way too many criminals who get off. And many get off on the slightest of technicalities. And if the conviction rate is so high perhaps its because the accused are actually guilty. Conrad Black sounds like a leftist.
What is this supposed to mean? It sounds like more leftist crap.
@ yamit82:
G-d is eternal and the nations of this world (apart from Israel) are here today and gone tomorrow. Obama is a fool but the Jews will face far worse in the future….
That’s all that can be said from the perspective of our present vantage.
But with regard of wielding power and influence in the world America and Black should be consoled with the knowledge that there is always Israel available to be pushed around with little to no chance of blow-back.
“We’ll always have Israel” Food is better in Paris…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpoyshqB8-o
The Jews are the Rodney Dangerfield of the nations.
Maybe I’m being too provincial – America looks like its competing for the same dubious honor.
I would not raise the victory flag just yet. The Russian Empire is no more but the Russkies are still there deminished yes but not powerless. They still are anti Americans, and seem to have outmaneuvered the Americans geopolitically in the past few years. The also have the Europeans by their collective “cojones” as the principle source of fossil fuels to the continent.
I don’t see how America can maintain their position of the world’s sole superpower with $17trillion in admitted debt but with unfunded Federal obligations of over 100 trillion dollars. That’s more than all of the money that exists in the world. can’t be funded or repaid and it’s unstoppable.
But with regard of wielding power and influence in the world America and Black should be consoled with the knowledge that there is always Israel available to be pushed around with little to no chance of blow-back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpoyshqB8-o