By Thomas E. Brewton

It is said that diplomats must be prepared to negotiate with the Devil, which raises the question whether anything can be gained by negotiating with pure evil. Is it realism to assume that the Devil can be made less than evil?

Release of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group report puts the doctrine of foreign policy realism in the middle of the table. One implication of that doctrine is that values should play no role in foreign policy; only material national interests deserve consideration.

Yet liberal Republicans and liberal Democrats have been touting the forthcoming report (predictably leaked and already widely discussed by the New York Times) as a counter to the administration's policy.

How does diplomatic realism square with the endless barrages of criticism from liberals that the Bush doctrine of preemptive action has squandered the United States's moral capital with the rest of the world?

How does diplomatic realism square with liberals attacking all forms of clandestine surveillance of enemy activity? with demands that terrorists be treated like prisoners of war under the Geneva convention?

Senators Kerry, Kennedy, Levin, and Dodd apparently regard "sensitivity" and popularity as values that trump other national interests, ergo the UN and not US military action: ingratiation, not defense. Where does the expected diplomatic realism of the Baker- Hamilton Iraq Study Group report fit into that picture? Are "sensitivity" and popularity moral values?

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Posted by Walt as China, Iran, Iraq, Middle East Issues, U.S Foreign Policy at 9:10 PM EST

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Communist China’s $14.5 billion trade surplus during the month of June set a new record for single month. Exporting goods to the West, chiefly to the United States, has ballooned China’s enormous cash reserve, now topping Japan’s as the world’s largest holder of foreign currency. This makes China most able to finance U.S. indebtedness. This is not a good omen.

The Bush administration recently announced that the projected federal deficit for the current fiscal year will be just short of $300 billion, not as large as originally predicted. President Bush claims this as an accomplishment. The sad truth is that the federal government’s indebtedness during the five years of the Bush presidency has grown to $8.3 trillion from $5.6 trillion. Where does the money come from to finance these enormous short falls? One source is more currency produced by the Federal Reserve, the process known as inflation that steals the value of everyone’s dollars. But another way to cover a deficit is to borrow. And one of the chief lenders to our nation in recent years has been Communist China, a country that has never renounced its intention to defeat the United States.

It begins to look as though China will not have to do militarily what it is being positioned to do economically. What are our leaders doing to get America off this suicidal path? The answer is virtually nothing, except more unconstitutional spending.

Meanwhile our national and financial security is in jeopardy because of our relation with the enemy who has threatened our country with missiles. They already have control of both entrances to the Panama Canal and has made alliances with Cuba and socialist Venezuela, the most anti-US country in South America.

Posted by Walt as China, Communism, Economics at 12:38 AM EDT

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