Posted on 11/02/2006 7:28:07 AM PST by presidio9
Dialogue with America's enemies, improved ties with other countries and more aggressive scrutiny of Bush administration decision-making are all high on the foreign policy agenda if Democrats score big in next week's U.S. elections.
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Under the U.S. Constitution, presidents have the lead on foreign policy and that will continue no matter which party controls Congress after November 7.
But if Democrats take the House of Representatives, and maybe the Senate, as some polls predict, they could influence international relations -- through committee chairmanships and budget authority -- in ways they have not since 2001, when President Bill Clinton left office.
Iraq is the focus. Democrats and a growing number of Republicans are alarmed at Bush's handling of the worsening war.
But Democratic divisions on what to do -- withdraw U.S. troops now, withdraw in some certain time frame, even beef up the military presence -- are well-documented. This sets the stage for robust debate after a high-level study panel recommends potential solutions before the new Congress takes office in January.
More broadly, Democrats likely to lead foreign policy committees hope to move beyond what they consider other Bush mistakes.
"I will work hard on fostering better relations, more respect for relations with both allies and non-allies," said U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos (news, bio, voting record) of California, who may lead the House International Relations Committee.
"There has been a distinct deterioration of U.S. relations with a very large number of countries" from France to Indonesia, he told Reuters.
DEMOCRATS' DIRECT APPROACH
Lantos and Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) of Delaware, who could become chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, favor direct U.S. talks, largely eschewed by Bush, as key to negotiated solutions with Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs.
"America, whose greatest strengths are her ideas and her ideals, has become afraid to talk," Biden said in a speech on Tuesday, adding: "It's time to find our voice again."
But this approach does not mean problem countries will not be called to account. Biden plans to introduce legislation holding North Korea responsible if it transfers nuclear technology to a radical group that uses the weapon.
And Congress has shown bipartisan support for sanctions on Iran.
Senior Democratic aides, who said the administration often stonewalled Congress, predicted a Democratic majority would vigorously examine issues ranging from contracts for work in Iraq to U.S. policy in the Middle East.
The Homeland Security Department, created after the September 11 attacks, and the Millennium Challenge Account, which aids developing free-market democracies, are other likely targets.
But one prominent lobbyist said it wasn't clear how a Democratic majority would exert itself, especially if the Senate stays Republican and the House majority is narrow.
A Democratic Congress may pay more attention to the U.S. trade deficit with China and China's human rights record but is not expected to provoke any major shift in U.S. policy.
"The China consensus in this town remains strong in terms of favoring a high level of U.S. engagement across a broad front with China," said one senior Democratic aide.
If Democrats win the Senate, they could make trouble for Bush by thwarting confirmation of senior appointees, including U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, who having failed to win Senate approval, is serving under a provisional appointment.
The period between the election and inauguration of the new Congress could affect the landmark U.S.-India nuclear agreement, which passed the House but stalled in the Senate.
Yes, the libs are the panderers, the appeasers, the white flag wavers, that the French admire....yes, look at what a fine job the Clinton fiasco did for America -- cowardice, appeasement, unexcelled incompetence.
Any American that would put the ThugoRats in charge of Americas' security, are beyond stupid.
Dialogue with America's enemies? It's all so simple! Why didn't we think of that?
Talking to them? TALKING TO THEM? That is the Democrats' plan. How about holding hands with them and singing Kumbaya? Like the Nazi and the Stalinists before them, the only thing America's enemies recognize is strength and conviction, a lesson the Democrats have never learned.
I posted it because it amuses me that the Democrats tried to make this election about a president who wasn't running for anything, and their guy made it also about a senator who wasn't running for anything. The end result is that the clow car media is reduced to running endorsement editorials as news pieces.
and dont they have a 'secret strategy' to the war in Iraq?lol
Is this an EDITORIAL or a NEWS STORY?
Reuters providing DNC talking points?
From: 'The Music Man'
ARTIST: Meredith Willson
TITLE: Pick a Little, Talk a Little
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Goodnight ladies
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Goodnight ladies
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Goodnight ladies
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
We're going to leave you now
Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Farewell ladies
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Farewell ladies
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Farewell ladies
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
We're going to leave you now
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep
Pick a little, talk a little, Cheep!
Al Reuters: mouthpiece for terrorists and providers of DNC talking points - there's NO difference between the two.
Democrats: "We'll catch Bin Laden"
Me: "Then what?"
Democrats: "Then we'll use diplomacy"
Me: "With who?"
Democrats: "You're stupid"
DEMS - all talk, all the time.....They can talk the talk, but cannot walk the walk.........
Perfect job for John Kerry. What was it he called the coalition in Iraq?
If the Democrats get control and the terrorist continue to kill and destroy Americans and American interest, what are the Democrats going to do about it? Are they going to be like the U.N. and hold them accountable by writing a strong letter to someone or make a big strong speech in front of the media? And if that doesn't work, repeat it again only a little stronger? The way the Democrats have worked in my opinion to destroy everything that Pres. Bush has tried to do to protect America and American interest has made me so dislike them that every time I hear the word 'Democrat' I equate it with Traitor, Socialist, Communists, dope addicts, dunker's, killers, and everything vile and immoral, and a few other things. I know the list is long but that is what has happened to my thinking since Clinton shamed the Office Of The President and what has come after it with the Democrats not thinking anything about it and what they have been doing to this country these last six years. I can't see how anyone can think that with the Democrats in control how this country will become better off. I think it will become worse off because they don't believe in working together as a nation because if they did, I think the U.S. would have been further down the road in defeating the terrorist, solving the illegal immigration problem and making the U.S. more energy efficient than it is now.
Sure, a couple hundred thousand of our citizens will be dead (including me here in southern Manhattan, most likely), but the Democraps will hold htem RESPONSIBLE, dammit! They'll give them the talking-to of a lifetime!
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