The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 7 of 18)

When our manufacturing plants close and other countries take them up, their currency gets better and ours worse because they have something of value to sell and we don't.

I can assure them that we ain't gonna make it selling Big Macs and Whoppers or services like Time and Management consultants.

Steel! Automobiles! Clothing! Appliances! Electronics! THAT'S what we have to sell!

Oops! Bad examples.

Free trade has already killed them off.

p>Big Macs and Whoppers it is, then. Sorry. I'll just get my coat. br> -- A. C. Santore /p>

In pointing out the security/strategic implications of stalled free trade deals, Ivan Osorio inadvertently missed across another reason that congressional Democrats are dragging their heels. He correctly identifies Colombia as "a steadfast U.S. ally" which "faces deteriorating relations with the authoritarian, belligerent, anti-American government of Hugo Chavez in neighboring Venezuela" and South Korea's threat from "a nuclear-armed Kim Jong-Il." However, he neglects to mention that Panama is also a staunch ally with extensive security ties to the US, and which occupies a critical strategic niche by virtue of the canal. These are allies that we cannot afford to alienate or weaken, and yet this is exactly what congressional Democrats are doing. Mr. Osorio argues that this should be used as leverage, but what if alienating allies and strengthening our enemies isn't an unfortunate consequence of their actions, but a deliberate goal for those who seek to win elections by weakening America?

p>I have no doubt that the free trade/protection issue is part of the Democrats' calculation (organized labor is one of the most powerful members of the Democratic coalition), but remember that this is the same Congress that chose to exhume the Armenian Genocide just as the Bush administration sought to use logistics facilities in Turkey to support the surge. This is also the same congress whose speaker refused to talk to the President of the United States, but was perfectly willing to kowtow to the dictator of Syria. Throw in the congressional Democrats who either refused to condemn Hezbollah's provocations which led to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon last year or who condemned both sides equally, and you have a clear picture of their foreign policy agenda. Cozying up to union bosses and alienating allies who will be br> less likely to support us in future operations is a win/win for Democrats. br> -- Mike Harris br> MAJ, U

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