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McCain vs Biden: Not All "Foreign Policy Experience" Is Created Equal
Denver -- Here at the Democratic Convention there are two conversations going on. One is about the Clintons and their supporters (did Bill really insist that his speech be about the economy and his legacy instead of national security? What stage of the grieving process are Hillary's supporters at? And will that process be complete before or after November 4th?).
The other conversation is about Joe Biden: "He'll really have Barack's back." "The labor unions are giddy about the choice." "He's a foreign policy homerun."
But all foreign policy experience is not created equal.
Of course, the pick adds foreign policy heft to the ticket. Three decades on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including a pair of stints as chairman, will do that. But Biden's value to an Obama administration in this crucial arena extends well beyond time-served.
The past seven-plus years have shown us that "foreign policy experience," in and of itself, isn't all it's cracked up to be. For Exhibit A of this look no further than George Bush's most "experienced" foreign policy advisor: Dick Cheney. How's that working out? And Don Rumsfeld had spent lots of time on foreign policy practice field too.
What's great about the Biden pick isn't just that he has "foreign policy expertise," it's what kind of expertise he has, how he uses it, and how useful his expertise is for the unique challenges we currently face around the world. His approach favors diplomacy and engagement - backed up by a toughness that allowed him to confront Milosevic face-to-face.
Contrast that with the approach of John McCain, who also has "foreign policy experience": looking at his track record, McCain's experience has apparently taught him that pretty much every problem in the world has a military solution.
Back in 2000, during a GOP debate, McCain was asked by Larry King, "What area of American international policy would you change immediately as president?"
McCain's reply? "I'd institute a policy that I call 'rogue state rollback.' I would arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and democratically-elected governments.... As long as Saddam Hussein is in power, I am convinced that he will pose a threat to our security."
In other words, he was a believer in democracy at the end of a loaded gun even before Bush was.
But as the subsequent years have proven, there is a limit to what the military -- even one as skilled and powerful as ours -- can achieve on its own. Just this past week, the New York Times reported how Iraq's Shiite-controlled government is now going after the American-backed Sunni leaders of the "Anbar Awakening," the movement of tribal sheikhs that banded together to fight Al Qaeda and bring security to the Anbar region. The Awakening began to bring levels of violence down in Iraq months before Bush even announced his plans for the surge - a fact that McCain, despite his experience, failed to grasp.
As the Times puts it, the move against the Awakening by the government "is causing a rift with the American military, which contends that any significant diminution of the Awakening could result in renewed violence, jeopardizing the substantial security gains in the past year."
"If it is not handled properly, we could have a security issue," said Brigadier Gen. David Perkins.
These kinds of sectarian hatreds -- many of them hundreds of years old -- will not be fixed by military means, particularly a military that has as its commander in chief a man who's a bit shaky on the whole Sunni/Shia thing.
Yes, he voted for the war (a decision he says he regrets), but he made it clear that our goal in Iraq should be limited to ending Iraq's weapons programs -- not achieving "rogue state rollback."
What's more, right before the war vote, Biden reached across the aisle and, with the help of Dick Lugar and Chuck Hagel, two of his Republican colleagues on the Foreign Relations committee, helped craft a proposal that would limit the president's ability to wage war on Iraq, forcing him to seek UN approval. And, if the UN had said no, Bush would have had to return to Congress and prove that the Iraqi WMD threat was so "grave" that only military action could eliminate it.
That bipartisan effort was torpedoed by Bush (with an assist from Trent Lott and Dick Gephardt) -- the last thing he and his administration wanted was diplomacy. We can expect more of the same from McCain.
So, by all means, let's use the occasion of the Biden selection to have a foreign policy debate. But let's start by acknowledging that all "foreign policy experience" is not created equal. And let's have the election be a referendum on which kind of experience the American people think will make the United States safer.
For more Huffington Post coverage from the Democratic National Convention, visit our Politics @ the DNC page, our Democratic Convention Big News Page, and our HuffPost bloggers' Twitter feed, live from Denver.
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Every pundit from here to Timbuktu will gas us half to death with every kind of opinion and notion and perhaps a good helping of BS thrown in about Sen Biden and either how wonderful is he or how he's actually the spawn of Satan. Just watch folks. The fun's already starting, so pony up to your TV and have that popcorn ready.
My opinion is that Sen Biden is a wise choice. Sure, the man isn't perfect; but, hey, not everyone can be Jesus walking on the water. Let's give the guy a chance. He's ready and willing to serve.
Joe Biden is a poor choice. Has everyone forgotten about his plagiarism in college and in his speeches. This will be a problem!
You can't plagiarize war! Either you know diplomacy or you don't...you are either in or out! Give me the diplomat any day over war mongers that make more money than you can count every minute we say we're fighting for? What are we fighting for again?!
Hey folks... I was not trying to pick a fight, just making a point that Biden's past will come back to haunt the ticket! Obama should have selected someone else.
If you wish to talk about college preformance you might want to refer to John S. McCain III's record at the USNA. Of course that was fifty years ago and sometimes people change (maverick maverick maverick). On the other hand, sometimes an innate disinterest in details can lead one to take shortcuts in cognative thinking.
"All foreign policy experience is not the same" has nothing to do with Biden's alleged "plaiarism in college". If your point is Biden can't be trusted, lets's being wth McCain and Chaney. First, Chaney CANNOT BE TRUSTED by the American people, and more importantly, by our foreign neighbors. He has demonstrated his first interest (Halleburton) is fighting a war that adds to his wealth and ailenating our allies. John McCain is too shotgun happy. All he wants to do is get us involved in a 3rd world war to "prove our toughness". Where is diplomacy and commitment to the American people--country first?
William,
Could you enlighten us and elaborate a little about what you mean by "plagiarsm in college and in his speeches"?
As far as I understand - and you'll correct me if I'm wrong - you are not only off base or even in left field with this kind of accusation but completely out of the ballpark.
There are many sources of detailed information. Here is one concerning his 1988 campaign:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/biden.htm
This article begins as follows:
"Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr., a U.S. senator from Delaware, was driven from the nomination battle after delivering, without attribution, passages from a speech by British Labor party leader Neil Kinnock. A barrage of subsidiary revelations by the press also contributed to Biden's withdrawal: a serious plagiarism incident involving Biden during his law school years; the senator's boastful exaggerations of his academic record at a New Hampshire campaign event; and the discovery of other quotations in Biden's speeches pilfered from past Democratic politicians. "
My point is that Obama should have not selected a running mate who will bring questions of trust to his campaign.
I remember a former professor telling our class that a charge of plagiarism can come back to destroy promising careers - and that's exactly what Biden faced in 1988.
Arianna is kind. After decades of interactions with "foreign policy" types in DC and in Academia, I can say with confidence that the average European has a better sense of what is going on in the world than the American "foreign expert." Even our Secretary of State, who is supposedly a Russian expert, shies away from using her Russian when in Russia. Our solution? Hey-diddle-diddle-right-down-the-middle. You don't need knowledge, power alone will do it. We forget that when George HW Bush introduced Dan Quayle he lauded him for being an expert on foreign policy. Yeah, and spelling. Biden is a lot better, but we are totally poverty-stricken when it comes to our own foreign experts.
I agree with you about the average European versus the average American "foreign expert.' And this is why Barack Obama will be so much better than recent U. S. leaders: because his formative life experiences have been much more similar to the average European's than most U. S. citizens'. He had a mother who was an anthropologist who encouraged openness to other cultures, and he had the experience of living with and near people from other cultures and struggling to live everyday life with a foreign language. His major in college was international relations, which bespeaks a life-long interest in this topic. He has traveled on his own in Europe and Africa, before becoming a public figure.
Foreign policy is a lot like living in a neighborhood.
Neighborhoods and the world itself are in danger when they are not protected by democracy, and any person or nation who acts unilaterally while advertising themselves as being a champion of democracy exposes themselves as liars.
Neighborhoods fail under the assault of gangs, which are simply groups of individuals who use economic and physical force to sieze control for personal gain.
The Republican gig is monacracy disguised as democracy, although the "monacracy" is composed of a group of powerful individuals, banks, and corporations - a group that is by no means limited to just American citizens - rather than a single titular "King" as in days past.
Although they prefer to control nations with economic handcuffs, as Bush, Cheney, & PNAC, LLP have made clear they are far from reluctant to use force - just like a street gang. It might be different, had they ever given any indication that they are "benevolent dictators"....but they haven't.
They are only in it for themselves - the thousands of dead Americans mean no more to them than the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis or the millions who die in resource-poor regions of Africa.
lollll...my, but that sounds paranoid, doesn't it...
Selective reasoning is reasoning that misses many points in the name of advocacy. In Washington, longevity seems to be synonomous with "expertise" despite the fact that the usual criteria for expertise are lacking. Mr. Biden, I am convinced, was an error for Mr. Obama that exposes more vulnerbilities than any positive attributes that he brings to the ticket. Looking at the Biden facts reveals some of these. Mr. Biden is almost as old as Mr. McCain. Biden is 66 I believe, McCain 70 and soon to be 71. Mr. Biden has not had a career other than that of a politician, sitting in Congress for 36 years, not a criterion for other than electioneering. Mr. Biden has a record of very serious illnesses, all life threatening. Mr. Biden received only about 9000 votes after spending millions on the primary campaign, the least number of votes I think of any candidate. Ms. Clinton received 18,000,000 not counting Florida or Michigan. In his 36 years, Mr. Biden has not promulgated any significant legislation, and has been on the losing side of many issues, unlike Ms. Clinton. Finially, Mr. Biden is from a state with 3 electoral votes and adds nothing to the ticket in this regard. Far wiser if Mr. Obama has selected Ms. Clinton.
Mr. Biden knows how to end the war in Iraq. He has developed a viable and comprehensive strategy to reverse US policy in Iraq by promoting and facilitating a sustainable political settlement among the warring Iraqi factions.
Mrs. Clinton doesn't have...one of those...does she?
By the way, what you don't know about Mr. Biden is A LOT !
Years ago when I was applying for a job the head hunter advised me not to stress my civil service experience, as prospective employers perceived government emplotees as lazy, unimaginative, lousy communications skills, unambitious. and generally not a top notch candidate for a job. I would think 36 years of political life, with all it's perks, non-accountability and whatnot is certainly not a great recommendation.
I am totally confused"the frequent opine: The USA"s standing in the world; how other nations regard us.
Didn"t "they" like us enough on September 11, 2001?
Haven"t we sent enough taxpayers" money to "them" overseas? Enough of our young men and women to harm"s way for "their" security or defense?
What "friendly nation" do we petition for relief when the USS Cole was attacked in 2000, killing seventeen American naval personnel and injuring 39 others?
What about the terrorist bombings of African-based US embassies"250 people died in the 1998 attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, for which al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
What was our world standing in 1993, when the World Trade Center was attacked initially; six people killed, 1,042 injured? As far back as 1983, 241 servicemen killed and 81 wounded by a car bomb in Lebanon?
Here or there, the USA is attacked. And, yes, we"d rather snipe at each other being safer than badmouthing Islamic terrorists or drawing a cartoon about them. So what to do. Wave a white flag in full view so our enemies have a clearer shot?
It"s probably the fault of television. If it can"t be solved in 60 minutes, don"t do it. Moreover, war is not meant to be fought on television. Remember Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men?" Americans can"t handle the truth. We don"t want to pay the price for security. Losing a few Americans here and there is okay. As long as we"re loved.
I just pray to god that people wake up before its to late to see what these thugs have to offer!! $ mores years of Bush bulls@#t that has gotten us in the mess we are in today!! I don't know of any regular person that has to think hard about what to pay and what not to pay when you get your paycheck that can honestly say that they are better off today than they were 8 yrs. ago before Bush would even consider casting a vote for McCain!! Take about scary and sad? There you have it! Vote for someone that wants to help us get out of this mess!! And how long is the msm going to allow McCain to continue using the POW card! Thats sad. The Dems need to start coming out swinging with ads on that issue too! That doesn't mean that hes not patriotic its finding out the truth! Its like they are daring someone to question it too!! Arrianna please write a article on this too and explain to us how they are using this as a qualification and getting away with it too!!!!!!! OBAMA/BIDEN'08
Arriana,
You forgot to mention that other foreign policy expert - Condi Rice, supposedly an expert on Russia. Lot of good that experience did for us. Why do so many American's think McCain would make a better commander in chief is beyond me. That role is to ride herd on the military commanders not to be one of them. The best role model for that was Kennedy who kept guys like Curtis "Bombs Away" LeMay from getting us into WWIII. McCain would just reinforce those tendencies and act as an accelerator rather than a moderator. Obama seems to have the more even temperment required to be commander in chief just like Kennedy.
Those who lampooned President Bush because Cheney was pulling his strings now must do the same to Senator Obama. His weakness in all things presidential is highlighted by these type of articles.
How ridiculous to assert that Senator Biden will help Senator Obama. Americans vote for the Presidential candidate. VPs have had no meaningful impact on election outcomes in the last 40 years.
Unless, Senator Obama's change means that he and Biden will be co-presidents. After all, Senator Obama couldn't even say when he THOUGHT life began. Maybe that's a question his co-president has the courage to answer.
Biden advocates a variation of a FAILED British proposal/policy that's as old as dirt .Obama's choice is not the best available and proves his (Obama's ) dismal expertise in foreign policy. Something the country and the world have known for a long time. No amount of hype and pretty words will cover that up. Nope! Sorry,try again
As if this needed to be said.
The guy who has the worst "expertise" would have to be the guy who adamantly supported the START of this unjustified, horribly mismanaged and outright outrageous war in the first place.
Can you guess who that is or should we give you a few seconds first?
Could you at least name that proposal/policy and give a date for that piece of dirt. I presume you refer to Iraq, and perhaps to the Sykes-Picot Agreement, in which we Brits and the French made such a hash of the entire Middle East?
Bush/Cheney/McCain advocate a variety of FAILED foreign policies that are as old as the Bush/Cheney administration. McCain's foreign policy experience is 95% in agreement with the various failed Bush/Cheney policies. That is despite the failures starting with Rumsfeld and going forward from there. Simply put, McCain advocates more of the same. His bluster is precise and quite strong. This is something the entire country has known for quite some time now - after all, McCain is on the campaign trail advocating more of the SAME failed Bush policies. No amount of hype and blustery words will cover up for the failure of this administration - and now McCain - to prove once and for all that they are not in touch with the realities of the world.
You'll get no argument from . So why is it you advocate MORE of the SAME albeit with a different face?
Biden advocates giving the Kurds, Suni & Shia the ability to make local decisions about their laws, just like we have different laws in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. If Basara wants to be under sharia law that's one thing, but don't expect the Suni and Kurd areas to follow that. People would then be allowed to move to another "state" if they didn't like the restrictions placed on them by the majority. They would have their own police to enforce their local laws and protect their citizens.
Then the "federal" government would rule over other things, just like our system of government. He never advocated for the failed British policy of dividing the country of Iraq into three different countries as the British did when they created the country of Iraq.
If you are going to talk about failed policy you need to understand what you are talking about first.
Hey Tanker!
Actually, that is not what Biden is advocating at all.
You'll be happy to know that the Biden strategy has nothing whatsoever to do with partition nor is it about dividing or carving Iraq into three ethnic enclaves. The Biden strategy is not about a US imposition or about implementing some kind of imperial foreign policy.
I'd be really interested to know where you are getting your information about what Senator Biden is advocating to reverse US policy in Iraq.
Have you heard Joe Biden rip the Republicans to shreds on foreign policy? The Republicans may claim to wear the "mantle of national security," but after Joe speaks, any independent will understand that they are actually wearing the "Emperor"s New Clothes" "- their cover vaporizes once you recognize that every one of our enemies is stronger today than when BushCain went to war.
Worried about what Iran will do next in Iraq? Iran wasn"t Iraq before we invaded. Will al Qaeda in Iraq regroup? There was no al Qaeda in Iraq before we invaded. Radical fundamentalist Islam? Iraq was secular, now 40% of the populace lives under Sharia law.
Our enemies are stronger because we invaded Iraq. The Republicans have no business telling anyone how to keep America safe.
"Failed policy?" Naptime. "Distracted?" Worse. "We are not safer?" Wishy-washy. "Our enemies are stronger." Obviously true, Obviously dangerous tp our country. Important enough to overturn prior assumptions.
Barack can"t convey this message as effectively as Joe can. First, the independent voters - right or wrong - will give Biden more credibility on this issue. Second, this message resonates best when delivered with anger and contempt - not Barack"s style to my observation. Joe is fine with it.
I agree with everything you say, except the reference to Shari'a as if it were intrinsically oppressive. To learn about Shari'a, take a gander at Noah Feldman's "Fall and Rise of the Islamic State." Who better than a Jewish professor of law at Harvard to defend Shari'a!
Thanks. I spoke while uninformed.
Unauthorized strikes inside sovereign countries, a NEW and IMPROVED SURGE in Afghanistan, and increased military budget and a snail-speed exit from Iraq, while we continue to use private mercenaries and hold noone to account for rendition, torture and the rest of it?????
OH GOODIE!
I guess when you can't sell more war and deception using the "bad cop" (BUSH), it is time to bring in the "good cop"..... dems will FALL IN LINE for whatever Bush policies OBAMA decides to adopt.... because he is "nicer" than Bush. Anyone old enough to remember Bill Clinton (let alone the past 40 yrs) should know that the democratic party is a joke and is nothing more than another way to SELL the same crap to a different type of American voter.
Since single-payer is off the table, and no major change is even offered for trade and fiscal policies,
Unauthorized strikes on a sovereign country.
Private mercenaries.
Torture.
You forgot beheadings, mass murder, desecration of religions, hands cut off, tongues cut out, stoning, no freedom to vote, no freedom of speech, no freedom of the press, no trial by impartial jury, suicide bombers killing hundreds of innocent people in markets, poison gassing of minorities, women are sold into marriages,....
Add those and you have Al Qaeda who we are fighting.
While I agree with your analysis, the subtleties are not being translated to the voting populace. That is the crux of the matter. That is Barrack's toughest job.
Similarly, I see polls that say McCain is more trusted to fix our economic mess. McCain, who, on his website, promotes the policies that got us into this mess, who has one of the chief architects of the current mess, Phil Gramm, as one of his main economic advisers, is better suited to fix this mess?
Clearly, the American people are out of touch with the complex realities of the world, and must be educated. This is Barrack's toughest job.
"His approach favors diplomacy and engagement - backed up by a toughness that allowed him to confront Milosevic face-to-face"
The above excerpt from the above article brings one thing in mind,yes W B ush in China sitting right next to P utin when the Gerogia-Russia conflict took off,yet didnt say a word to P utin.
Then once he return to America started Barking. he cldnt speak to P utin when he had him right in front of him and yet His administration claims tough.
Like barack has always said Real Toughness is being able to look ur opponent in the eye and tell them what you think. Throwing bombs at innocent civilians is an act of cowardliness . Which is what MC and B ush think is being tough.
Come on Ariana - if you correctly trach McCain's miserable foreign policy experience, he is just going to play the POW CARD.
He's going to play the POW card on everything....
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Posted August 25, 2008 | 02:08 PM (EST)