Morning Bell: Just Another WikiLeak On An Already Sinking Ship: "
There is nothing positive that can be said about the release of more than a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables by the rogue hacker organization WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks has recklessly and inexcusably put lives at risk. Any U.S. person who cooperated with WikiLeaks has committed a crime and should be prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law.
That said, WikiLeaks is not the end of the world. The fundamentals of U.S. relationships with other nations remain unchanged. Leaks are not going to stop nations from cooperating with the U.S., or for that matter sharing secrets with us. Nations cooperate with the U.S. because it is in their interest to do so. And no leak will stop nations from acting in their self-interest.
But what is in our best interest? This has not been a good month for the Obama Doctrine: The President came home empty-handed from Asia, North Korea fired artillery at South Korea just days after revealing nuclear facilities no one knew they had, and Obama failed to get the G-20 to take any action limiting trade imbalances. It was not supposed to be this way. After apologizing for all of our nation’s sins, the world was supposed to swoon at President Obama’s unparalleled charisma. As American military power withered away, President Obama would use soft power and the United Nations to manage world affairs. But like Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter before him, this progressive foreign policy vision has failed.
That is why it is so important for the Obama Administration to change course on foreign policy. Heritage Foundation Foreign Policy Studies Director James Carafano advises:
The president should dump the New START treaty—its one-sidedness makes the U.S. look like a lousy negotiator in the eyes of the world … and a patsy in the eyes of the Russians. He should also reject out of hand calls to gut the defense budget and just flat out declare that America will stick it out in Iraq and Afghanistan until the job is done. And while he’s at it, he could stand up to China and stop extending the hand of friendship to regimes interested in a world without freedom or America.
The President should also make it a publicly top priority to hunt down any American connected with these leaks and prosecute them. This is not the first WikiLeak. This is, in fact, the third time that WikiLeaks has undermined our nation’s national security, and the Obama Department of Justice has been silent each time. Nobody gets more cooperation than a winner. The Obama Administration can begin to right its foreign policy ship by stopping and successfully prosecuting the WikiLeakers.
Quick Hits:
- With cap and trade dead in Congress, little is expected from United Nations climate talks in Cancun, Mexico this week.
- President Obama has done little to pass existing trade agreements with South Korea and Colombia.
- The same FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force that Portland, Oregon declined to participate in when George W. Bush was president, helped prevent the Christmas Tree bombing plot there last week.
- In an interview that aired Friday, President Obama said he was “extraordinarily proud” of Obamacare.
- On the day before Thanksgiving, the Obama administration further restricted energy development in Alaska.
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