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Edwards: Iraq was a trap, Giuliani: Vietnam was a victory
Internationalism
Saying that Rudy Giuliani is all about terror is like saying that the sun still rises in the east. "We have responded forcefully to the terrorists' war on us," Giuliani writes in his new Foreign Affairs article, abandoning a decade-long - and counterproductive - strategy of defensive reaction in favor of a vigorous offense" (the CLINTON STRATEGY in case you didn't get the point).
This war will be long, the candidate promises, with three challenges facing the next American president: fight the terrorists, strengthen the international system, "extend the benefits of the international system in an ever-widening arc of security and stability." This is a message with which John Edwards, the other candidate writing for the magazine, can find common ground: "We must reengage with our allies on critical security issues, including terrorism, the Middle East, and nuclear proliferation".
But to make things clear, Giuliani and Edwards have starkly different agendas on this issue. They both claim the higher moral ground: "balancing realism and idealism" (Giuliani), "reengage with our history of courage, liberty, and generosity" (Edwards). They both promise to fight extremism. They both seek to boost reliance on the international system.
But here comes the difference.
Giuliani believes that the system is not functional and should be repaired: "A primary goal for our diplomacy - whether directed toward great powers, developing states or international institutions - must be to strengthen the international system, which most of the world has a direct interest in seeing function well. After all, the system helps keep the peace and provide prosperity".
Edwards believes it is the US that's broken and that it should revert to its old habit of cooperating with the world: "We need a new path, one that will lead to reengagement with the world and restoration of the United States' moral authority in the community of nations".
UN
The result of such gap is a different set of recommended actions for the next president. "We need to look realistically at America's relationship with the United Nations," writes Giuliani; Edwards, on the other hand, promises to "increase our funding for global primary education... through the U.S. Agency for International Development and multilateral aid organizations."
Diplomacy
The UN isn't the only establishment Giuliani doesn't trust: "Another step in rebuilding a strong diplomacy will be to make changes in the State Department and the Foreign Service. The time has come to refine the diplomats' mission down to their core purpose: presenting U.S. policy to the rest of the world," he writes. And he has a message to "members of Congress who talk directly to rogue regimes at cross-purposes with the White House." Needless to say, Giuliani doesn't like it.
Democracy
And what about promoting democracy?
"Most of the problems in the world today arise from places where the state system is broken or has never functioned," writes Giuliani, "but democracy cannot be achieved rapidly or sustained unless it is built on sound legal, institutional, and cultural foundations." Edwards makes the same point: "Elections alone are not enough; new democracies need to cultivate constitutionalism, strong institutions, pluralism and a respect for a free press and the rule of law." But Giuliani adds some proof: "The election of Hamas in the Palestinian-controlled territories is a case in point."
Palestinians
Too much emphasis, Giuliani writes, "has been placed on brokering negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians - negotiations that bring up the same issues again and again. It is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism. Palestinian statehood will have to be earned through sustained good governance, a clear commitment to fighting terrorism, and a willingness to live in peace with Israel. America's commitment to Israel's security is a permanent feature of our foreign policy."
Edwards doesn't even mention the Palestinians. His only reference to the subject is this: "We must stand by our ally and partner Israel, ensuring its security while doing everything in our power to bring peace and stability to the region."
Iran
They both save tough words for Iran. "Iran cannot be allowed to possess nuclear weapons," writes Edwards.
But they don't seem to agree on the means to achieve this goal. Edwards goes for engagement: "When we say something is unacceptable, however, we must mean it, and that requires developing a strategy that delivers results, not just rhetoric. Instead of saber rattling about military action, we should employ an effective combination of carrots and sticks." Giuliani doesn't believe in "talk for the sake of talking." He wants to talk, but only from a position of power: "The theocrats ruling Iran need to understand that we can wield the stick as well as the carrot, by undermining popular support for their regime, damaging the Iranian economy, weakening Iran's military, and, should all else fail, destroying its nuclear infrastructure."
Blame
This is the most explosive sentence I found in John Edwards article: "The Bush administration has walked the United States right into the terrorists' trap. By framing this struggle against extremism as a war, it has reinforced the jihadists' narrative that we want to conquer the Muslim world and that there is a 'clash of civilizations' pitting the West against Islam."
And the most controversial sentence in Giuliani's article: "America must remember one of the lessons of the Vietnam War. Then, as now, we fought a war with the wrong strategy for several years. And then, as now, we corrected course and began to show real progress. Many historians today believe that by about 1972 we and our South Vietnamese partners had succeeded in defeating the Vietcong insurgency and in setting South Vietnam on a path to political self-sufficiency. But America then withdrew its support, allowing the communist North to conquer the South. The consequences were dire.
More 2008 election on Rosner's Domain:
Obama prepares for peace, Romney prepares for war
The Israel Factor: survey number 10
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