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According to John McCain, Darfur's genocide will be over in five years, if only we replace the United Nations with a "League of Democracies," an international body shorn of pesky non-allies like China and Russia. In a somewhat speculative speech today, McCain laid out the accomplishments that he envisions his administration will have accomplished by 2013.
After efforts to pressure the Government in Sudan over Darfur failed again in the U.N. Security Council, the United States, acting in concert with a newly formed League of Democracies, applied stiff diplomatic and economic pressure that caused the government of Sudan to agree to a multinational peacekeeping force, with NATO countries providing logistical and air support, to stop the genocide that had made a mockery of the world's repeated declaration that we would "never again" tolerant such inhumanity.
One minor problem here. While the U.S. has not indeed exerted sufficient pressure on Khartoum, it has used up a lot of the economic influence that it brings to the table. U.S. companies have not been able to do business in Sudan since 1998, thanks to sanctions that the Clinton administration placed on the regime for supporting terrorism. Additional targeted sanctions are still possible, and the U.S.-based divestment movement continues with full force, but the main source of funding for Sudan's genocidal apparatus is, of course, China (though India and Malaysia also have significant investments). Shutting out China, the most relevant player in Sudan, from the world's premier global institution would effectively close off the best possible avenue through which to pressure Khartoum. Working with China to end the genocide may be difficult and fraught with complications, but trying to do it without Beijing would be well-nigh impossible.
Comments
I called out some parts of John McCain's speech and offered some of my comments:
Senator McCain Addressed The Hoover Institution on U.S. Foreign Policy, May 1, 2007
John McCain: "With our democratic friends and allies around the world, we need to build a new global order of peace, a peace that can last not just for a decade but for a century, where the dangers and threats we face diminish, and where human progress reaches new heights."
With all the controversy over the term "new world order" you would think McCain would get further away from those words than to simply rephrase them as "new global order". These words are not comforting.
John McCain: "China astonishes the world with its economic and technological modernization, but then spends billions trying to control that great icon of the modern era, the internet."
What does this mean? How is China spending these billions and how are they trying to control the internet? I have not heard of this before.
John McCain: "The mullahs of Iran and the leaders of Al Qaeda and Hezbollah want to cleanse the Muslim world of modernity and the ideals of the Enlightenment, and return it to an imagined past of theological purity."
What is "the Enlightenment"?
John McCain: "Back in 1947, just a year into the Cold War, the Truman administration launched a massive overhaul of the nation's foreign policy, defense, and intelligence agencies to meet new challenges. Today, we must do the same to meet the challenges of the 21st century. I will have much more to say about this in the future but our needs are clear in the organization, skills, and capabilities needed to prevail in the conflict with violent extremists: an intelligence community that is able to collect and analyze information on and conduct operations against our enemies; a public diplomacy effort that makes our case to the world effectively; a diplomatic corps that understands stability' does not mean supporting dictatorships; foreign aid programs that foster good governance; generals that understand and learn from past wars and apply those lessons to the future; defense procurement that is transparent, accountable and e ffective; and civilian defense leadership that is held accountable for results and provides the resources necessary to achieve results. We must never again launch a military operation with too few troops to complete the mission and build a secure, stable, and democratic peace. When we fight a war, we must fight to win."
Until McCain has "more to say about this", does anyone have insight into what the "massive overhaul" would look like?
John McCain: "Our partners must be good allies, too. They must have the will and the ability to act in the common defense of freedom, democracy, and economic prosperity. They must spend the money necessary to build effective militaries that can train and fight alongside ours. They must help us deliver aid to those in need and encourage good governance in fragile states. They must face the threats of our world squarely and not evade their global responsibilities. And they must put an end to the mindless anti-Americanism that today mars international discourse. No alliance can work unless all its members share a basic faith in one another and accept an equal share of the responsibility to build a peace based on freedom."
OK. Nice words. We should all want our allies to be responsible, pay their own way, and love us. How do you achieve that? What is the magic spell you will use?
John McCain: "The new League of Democracies would form the core of an international order of peace based on freedom."
I am a little uneasy with the choice of words being so similar to "new world order". In light of his "new global order" terminology this also appears to mean "new world order".
John McCain: "This is not idealism, my friends. It is the truest kind of realism."
My friends, are you sure about that?
John McCain: "As Ronald Reagan proclaimed in his speech to the British Parliament in 1982, Let us go to our strength. Let us offer hope. Let us tell the world that a new age is not only possible but probable.'"
I am a fan of Ronald Reagan. I am not familiar with that speech. I don't care for the words "new age". Perhaps with Reagan they didn't carry the same meaning as they do today. McCain keeps hitting on this "new global order" and "new age" theme. I don't care for it.
See more at http://JohnMcCain.dominates.us/forum
Posted by: scottwww at May 20, 2008 11:43 PM
