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October 07, 2009
Bob McKenna
Two controversial actions by the Obama administration could not have been taken on worse dates.
On September 17, 2009, the Obama administration reneged on an agreement with Poland and The Czech Republic to install a missile defense system within the borders of those two loyal allies of the United States. September 17th just happened to be the 70th anniversary (September 17, 1939) of the Soviet invasion of Poland, which made Poland the People's Republic of Poland and a satellite state member of the Eastern Bloc (not something the Poles were interesting in being). Some would call that a coincidence; some would call it incompetence, and some might suspect less than honorable motivation for the date of the action.
Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal reminded us in his column yesterday that, on January 20, 2009, The United States ABSTAINED from a United Nations Security Council resolution that Israel give up its atomic weapons. All ten nonpermanent members of the Security Council voted for the resolution, as did Russia, China, and the United Kingdom. France joined the United States in abstaining, which meant the resolution passed. We could, of course, have exercised our veto power to stop the resolution.
Reaction, as they say, was mixed.
Tehran reacted positively to the U.S. abstention. "For a long time we have said about Mr. Obama that we see change but no improvement...Now we can say there has been improvement."
An Israeli diplomat observed bitterly that Jan. 20 was the 68th anniversary of the Wannsee conference, which historians believe is where Nazi Germany planned the extermination of European Jewry. An administration spokesman said the timing of the vote was "purely coincidental."
These two actions by our government quite naturally have caused consternation for three of our most loyal allies, who must be wondering what the upside is to being our ally. Whether there are genuine coincidences here, or whether these are just two more instance of incompetence (or worse), is almost beside the point. An Israeli diplomat observed bitterly that Jan. 20 was the 68th anniversary of the Wannsee conference, which historians believe is where Nazi Germany planned the extermination of European Jewry. An administration spokesman said the timing of the vote was "purely coincidental."
Personally I don't think it is either "Coincidence or Incompetence".
I think both acts were deliberate.
Took the words out of my mouth.
