The failures of American foreign policy may be seen in the ashes
of the Benghazi mission, and the question that remains is how we
may repair the damage. Manifestly, what we’ve done up to now has
been inadequate, and it’s time to confess our failures. We have
sought to make the world love us and we have failed. Our president
has demonstrated his moral superiority to his predecessors and
shockingly this has gone unrecognized.
What then is the next step?
I suggest we begin with a formal apology for all the wrongs
America has committed, and sincerely ask for forgiveness. We’ve not
yet done that. Mitt Romney has described Obama as an
apology-monkey, and for this has properly been taken to task by the
fact-checkers. Four pinocchios from the Washington
Post’s
Glenn Kessler, Mr. Romney!
Kessler is correct to point out that Obama has not used the word
“apology.” In his 2008 urbi et orbi speech in Berlin, the
presidential candidate said, “We’ve made our share of mistakes, and
there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up
to our best intentions,” but it would be churlish to regard this as
an apology. Then there was his June 2009 Cairo speech. “Events in
Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build
international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible.”
Do you see the word apology there? Or “Nine-eleven was an enormous
trauma to our country. The fear and anger that it provoked was
understandable, but in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our
traditions and our ideals.” No apology there!
For the benefit of the fact-checkers, let’s ask the Oxford
Dictionary for the definition of “apology.” It’s “a regretful
acknowledgment of an offense or failure.” So Obama has done
everything except use the A-word itself. But this didn’t do the
trick. We’ve obviously not done enough and more is needed. Sure,
bowing to foreign leaders is a good start, but what we should now
consider is a formal apology.
Is there some reason to shrink from this? Might it be thought
not a little humiliating to beg forgiveness? Not at all. We’ve let
9-11 be turned into “Torch the American Embassy Day,” and it’s a
little late to pretend to a concern about national honor.
Consider our reaction to the attack on the Cairo embassy.
Egyptian president Morsi didn’t apologize. He had a sense of honor.
Instead, he asked the U.S. to take tough measures against the
video-maker, whom we dutifully brought into a police station. The
Secretary of State announced, with a note of regret, that “our
country does have a long tradition of free expression which is
enshrined in our constitution and our law. And we do not stop
individual citizens from expressing their views no matter how
distasteful they may be.” My bad.
I fear, however, that a formal apology will prove insufficient.
At $1.5 billion a year, Egypt is the second largest recipient of
American foreign aid. They want more, and we are expected to give
them more. Sure, it’s tribute, but the good news is that we can
afford it if we downsize the U.S. military. Then there’s the “Blind
Sheik,” Omar Abdel-Rahman, whom Morsi has vowed to free from an
American prison. Abdel-Rahman was sentenced to life imprisonment
for his part in the 1993 World Trade bombing, but releasing him
would make sense if, like Morsi, you think that 9-11 was an inside
job. The Blaze now reports that the State Department is
considering releasing Abdel-Rahman to Egypt, and would that be a
great symbol of U.S.-Egyptian relations!
There’s just one more think we might consider: a surrender. We
left Iraq before we had to and have formally announced when we’ll
leave Afghanistan. We’ve implicitly recognized Russian hegemony
over Syria and, bowing to Putin, have cancelled a planned missile
shield for Poland. We’re not taking sides over the Falkland
Islands. We don’t really care if Iran has nuclear weapons, and
we’ll negotiate with North Korea however many missiles they launch.
We’re treating Israel pretty much the same way Britain treated
Czechoslovakia in 1938. Having done all that, what would we have to
lose if we simply announced that we surrender?
