It is evident that the Tucson, Arizona tragedy of last week has been dominating political discussion and debate in the past few days, but it has become obvious in the past two days that American diplomacy is at a possible crucial moment that might affect the long term future of American foreign policy.
At the same time, we have the following realities:
Vice President Joe Biden went on an unannounced trip to Afghanistan to take stock as to what is being accomplished there, in what is now the longest foreign war in America’s history.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is visiting the Gulf States, and warning the Arab nations of the need to unite against the possible deployment of nuclear weapons by Iran in the near future, which would endanger them, as well as the nation of Israel. At the same time, Iran is gaining more influence in Iraq after all of our nation’s sacrifices there.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is now in China, just as they demonstrated a stealth airplane model for the first time, and he has expressed concern about US-Chinese relations, a week before the Chinese President is due for a visit to the United States. Gates has also expressed concern that North Korean development of nuclear power is a potential threat to the security of the United States.
When has a Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense all been overseas at the same time, pursuing foreign policy issues? Without being certain, the author would tend to think it has never happened.
So it is clear that foreign policy issues are starting to come back toward being the key problems that President Barack Obama must deal with, in the midst of an environment in which there is no civility or cooperation between the political parties and with elements of the media.
How this nation is to deal with Afghanistan, Iran, China, and North Korea are crucial to the future of America. And this is without thinking about relations with Russia, Pakistan, Venezuela and other nations that we must not take our attention away from, as they all represent challenges to the United States!