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“ As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.â€
In an eighty-eight word passage of his Inaugural Address, President Barak Obama issued an elegant but forceful repudiation of the past eight years of George Bush’s aggressive and misguided foreign policy doctrine. Without mentioning the word “torture†Obama rubuked the Bush administration’s premise that keeping America safe required torturing captured enemy combatants from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib. Rejecting the application of raw American military power to achieve foreign policy objectives, Obama called for prudence and restraint in the use of force. Spurning the arrogance of taking unilateral actions to advance America’s interests at the expense of our friends, Obama invoked the vision of a new international community engaged in alliances and bound by principles and diplomacy.
Continue reading Obama’s Inaugual Address Repudiates Bush Foreign Policy
On Thursday, a feeling of relief overtook anxious New Yorkers when news reports explained that a flock of geese most likely caused the emergency crash-landing of U.S. Airways flight 1549. This news, accompanying images of the safe exit of all 155 passengers, eased the tensions of a great many people who feared that the crash was a replica of the events that occurred on September 11, 2001. Thankfully, there was no terroristic catalyst involved.
I often find myself unaware or overlooking the fact that I live and work in a city that has remained a major target of potential terrorist attacks. While it would be foolish to continuously focus on this undeniable fact, it is important to maintain a healthy level of personal awareness and to make occasional consideration of the events and ramifications of the attack that occurred more than seven years ago. During and in the aftermath of last week’s would-be tragedy, it was impossible to avoid this awareness.
Continue reading Would-be Tragedy Inspires Reflection
As the world’s largest democracy, economic behemoth and nuclear power, India’s continued emergence as a bulwark of stability in Southeast Asia is pivotal to Barak Obama’s foreign policy portfolio. Since George Bush brokered the U.S.-India nuclear agreement in 2006, the U.S has decisively tilted toward an expanded strategic relationship with New Delhi over Pakistan. Vital to America’s containment strategy of China and serving as an integrating force for Asia’s bulging regional economies, India’s stability is paramount to the U.S. and the west. When Barak Obama takes the Oval Office, ratcheting down the long arc of tension between India and Pakistan and preventing any destabilizing chaos caused by insurgencies, civil war and terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, Nepal and Bengladesh will be core to his strategy of maintaining India’s viability as a major power.
India’s challenges as an emerging global power are formidable and complex. With one billion people speaking 22 official languages in 1,656 dialects, India’s democracy is rent with tension between its Hindu majority and numerous ethnic groups. India’s 130 million Muslims constitutes the second largest Muslim population of any country in the world and makes India an inviting target for Muslim extremists and Salafists. In 2007, over 1000 deaths were attributed to terrorists attacks as India has the 4 th highest terrorist related death rate internationally.
Continue reading Obama’s India Policy and the China Factor
The Supreme Court says evidence found after an arrest based on incorrect information from police files may be used against a criminal suspect.
In a 5-4 ruling Wednesday, the court is upholding the conviction of an Alabama man on federal drug and gun charges.
Bennie Dean Herring was arrested on what the Coffee County, Ala., sheriff’s department thought was a valid warrant from a neighboring county. It turned out that the warrant for Herring’s arrest had been recalled five months earlier.
Herring argued that police negligence should automatically lead to the suppression of evidence found after an unjustified arrest.
But Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said the evidence may be used ”when police mistakes are the result of negligence such as that described here, rather than systemic error or reckless disregard of constitutional requirements.”
As the world’s largest democracy, economic behemoth and nuclear power, India’s continued emergence as a bulwark of stability in Southeast Asia is pivotal to Barak Obama’s foreign policy portfolio. Since George Bush brokered the U.S.-India nuclear agreement in 2006, the U.S has decisively tilted toward an expanded strategic relationship with New Delhi over Pakistan. Vital to America’s containment strategy of China and serving as an integrating force for Asia’s bulging regional economies, India’s stability is paramount to the U.S. and the west. When Barak Obama takes the Oval Office, ratcheting down the long arc of tension between India and Pakistan and preventing any destabilizing chaos caused by insurgencies, civil war and terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, Nepal and Bengladesh will be core to his strategy of maintaining India’s viability as a major power.
India’s challenges as an emerging global power are formidable and complex. With one billion people speaking 22 official languages in 1,656 dialects, India’s democracy is rent with tension between its Hindu majority and numerous ethnic groups. India’s 130 million Muslims constitutes the second largest Muslim population of any country in the world and makes India an inviting target for Muslim extremists and Salafists. In 2007, over 1000 deaths were attributed to terrorists attacks as India has the 4 th highest terrorist related death rate internationally.
Continue reading Obama’s India Policy & The China Factor
We have all seen this headline before, but one would think that in the midst of an extraordinary time in our history, some extraordinary measures would be taken. Instead, the Democrats in Congress are about to take the Bush recession and turn it into their own. Instead of utilizing new thinking to weather an unprecedented economic downturn, we are given more of the same.
The same Democrats that have been in power for years (Conrad, Kerry, Wyden, et. al.) refuse to acknowledge the new political reality. We just completed a change election cycle where the people have clearly said that they want something completely different from the status quo. Instead of recognizing and adapting to that change, Democrats are adhering to the same failed strategies of the past. Is it really against a Democrat’s DNA to cut taxes? Is there any other reason why someone who purports to be intelligent would say something as ludicrous as this:
“If I’m a business person, it’s unlikely if you give me a several-thousand-dollar credit that I’m going to hire people if I can’t sell the products they’re producing.”
Well, Senator Conrad, maybe it depends on what product you are talking about. How can someone be in charge of the federal budget when they lump all businesses together with idiotic blanket statements like this one? All this does is project the blame of the economy from the outgoing administration to the new one. Way to screw it up on Day One!
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