Palin: US Military Needs To Go On "Offense"
Saturday, June 13, 2009
FROM 'EYES OF OBAMA' BLOG
Posted By jwilkes - Saturday, June 13th, 2009 at 4:26 PMContinuing her media blitz of late, Alaska Governor and 2008 Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin stopped by Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room. Ostensibly, Palin doesn't really need a reason to be doing interviews at this point, despite being nothing more than one of 50 governors with no particularly newsworthy distinction (ironically, she's become every bit the "celebrity" she derided Obama for being). But with every interview she gives, its difficult to overlook the air of self-promotion, the feel of a candidate-in-waiting. That's why it was a little surprising... strike that, it wasn't surprising. That's why it was interesting to hear "Sarah Barracuda" make this blunder: "We need to do everything we can with our military to show that we're strong on offense." Call it a misstatement if you want, but President Obama would have been put through the ringer for it. Our military doesn't go on "offense." it defends our borders and those of our allies. "Offense" means provoking or starting an all-out military assault. What's worse is when the comment is taken in context: Palin and Blitzer were discussing what the US's response should be to North Korea's recent test launches of long-range missiles. I'd stop short of saying Palin would advocate a preemptive strike on North Korea. But if her comment serves one purpose, it's to underscore her frightening lack of foreign policy experience, or even- for that matter- foreign policy perspective. And it also signifies what Palin-diplomacy might look like: the same sort of first-strike doctrine that got us mired in Iraq (because Bush officials argued that Iraq posed an immediate threat to the US and it's allies). There's a time for military action- when diplomatic channels have failed. That's why presidents from Kennedy to Reagan never jumped the gun- because if, at any point during the Cold War- either side had gone on "offense," this world would be an awfully different place. And this woman wants to be president?
0 comments:
Post a Comment