News Roundup - Hour 2
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-11-19/news-roundup-hour-2
Ireland may receive billions of euros to rescue its banks. A NATO summit begins in Portugal to discuss an exit strategy in Afghanistan. And Myanmar releases a pro-democracy campaigner after years of house arrest. A panel of journalists joins guest host Susan Page for analysis of the week's top international news stories.
Guests
Courtney Kube
national security producer for NBC News.
David Ignatius
columnist, The Washington Post; co-moderator of "PostGlobal" on washingtonpost.com.
Jonathan Landay
senior national security and intelligence correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.
Comments
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Not to be picky, but I don't see how Senate approval of a treaty can be anything but "ratification".
It is not the President who should be ashamed, it is Senator Kyl and the party of NO! who now show us what they will risk for the American people until they can grasp again control.
When all of the guests on the program are apologists for continuing the war in Afghanistan and there is no voice expressing the thoughts of the majority of Americans who want to leave, there is a real problem with this program. It is imperative that the show represent the diversity of opinion, and it clearly does not.
On the topic, I frankly find it disgusting the use of fear to convince people that our troops should stay. Especially the invocation of threats of "loose nukes" (we have heard that one invoked before, unfortunately). All the guests ignore the fact that the war and the violence began with us. We started it when we invaded. The guests stay that violence will erupt if we leave, as if it's a given, and give no evidence for this idea. Violence has already erupted, and we are the cause. We create violence ourselves, and the (understandable) resentment that the presence of our troops there has caused is the major impetus to continued violence. The Taliban and Al Qaeda are able to recruit because we are there. If we leave, that reason leaves with us. Furthermore, polls have consistency shown in both Afghanistan and Pakistan that they majority of people there don't want us there. We invaded. We are there illegally and unjustifiably. We need to stop acting with fear and arrogance and self-centeredness and leave.
We do have a responsibility to pay for the damage and hardship we have caused, but it would be better and possible to do so through third parties, such as the UN, who have greater legitimacy and who aren't simply self-interested.
So let me get this straight...Sen. Kyl and his compatriots would rather endanger our country's national security, damage our fragile "relationship" with Russia, further weaken our standing in the world, and perhaps ruin our best opportunity to gain Russian support to halt Iran's march to the atomic age so that they can play some kind of petty political one upmanship game? They want to delay or scuttle a treaty that does little but signals much that they and the rest of the Senate have worked on for seveal years? A treaty that he supported and worked toward in the first place? Just so they can "embarrass Obama"? Am I understanding this correctly?
And these are the people that said last week that they "understood the message" that Americans were sending? Riiiight....