Yesterday, Governor of New Mexico and Presidential candidate criticized the administration in a Washington Post Op ed. His essay entitled
Diplomacy, Not War, With Iran
illustrated a cool pragmatic approach to world problems that is sorely lacking in the current government. It should pique the curiosity of the voters and reveal much about the character of the candidate. A candidate's character and personality characteristics are going to be a viable measure for how I decide to vote in 2008. It seems the current President seemingly wants to hum the same tune he has sung, and quite frankly the majority of the nation now wishes he would sing quietly in a corner. Governor Richardson's pragmatism would be a refreshing welcome change to the current government.
I invite you all to read the whole column at the above cited link.
The Governor opens his essay by critiquing the current deal recently inked with North Korea. He cites it as a good example of where diplomacy can work.
He says of the Bush Administration:
Unfortunately, it took the Bush administration more than six years to commit to diplomacy. During that needless delay North Korea developed and tested nuclear weapons -- weapons its leaders still have not agreed to dismantle. Had we engaged the North Koreans earlier, instead of calling them "evil" and talking about "regime change," we might have prevented them from going nuclear.
He then goes on to assess the Iranian situation and once again reveals his pragmatic nature.
Rather than directly engaging the Iranians about their nuclear program, President Bush refuses to talk, except to make threats. He has moved ships to the Persian Gulf region and claims, with scant evidence, that Iran is helping Iraqi insurgents kill Americans. This is not a strategy for peace. It is a strategy for war -- a war that Congress has not authorized. Most of our allies, and most Americans, don't believe this president, who has repeatedly cried wolf.
Yes, its sad but true when the sky actually is falling, I have a tendency not to believe it when it has been falling for the last thousand days. A loss of credibility anyone? I wonder if anyone is going to get the hard truth that the only way to restore credibility is with a fresh face. The Governor then goes on to critique the style of diplomacy of the Bush Administration.
Saber-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate. But it is a good way to start a new war -- a war that would be a disaster for the Middle East, for the United States and for the world. A war that, furthermore, would destroy what little remains of U.S. credibility in the community of nations.
The most revealing part of this essay is the portion that follows next:
No nation has ever been forced to renounce nuclear weapons, but many have chosen to do so. The Iranians will not end their nuclear program because we threaten them and call them names. They will renounce nukes because we convince them that they will be safer and more prosperous if they do that than if they don't.
This practical minded approach to solving complex foreign policy problems should prove to be quite refreshing in the coming political race. The empathetic understanding of basic human nature is also a prevalent characteristic that is present in the writing. I don't know how many of us actually believed the current President whenever he looked into the eyes of a war widow and told them "I know what your going through" or words to those effect. Empathy, Pragmatism, and honesty should prove to be three missing ingredients that are necessary to restore our credibility.
Perhaps, I am reading too much into a simple political essay, but then again, I would like to look deeper at each of the candidate's messages and explore what they are really telling us about themselves, because I feel if we fail to do that, we might very well end up with a dud, like we did the last two elections. As always, I am throwing in my pitch board and allowing a daily poll to be thrown up. Feel free to link a donor tab, or make a pitch for your candidate in the comments. It doesn't have to be all about Bill Richardson. I don't think we have seen the last of this candidate, and I don't think the support he could build will be related to the millions that Obama and Clinton raise either.
Update Someone else not mentioned appears to be John Edwards, my apologies.