http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/obama-shakes-hands-castro_n_4417952.html If it was me, I would have skipped right past him. This guy has killed hundreds of thousands of his own people and Obama shakes his hand like he's an old friend. I know that Obama must admire the castro brothers for doing through revolution what Obama is trying to do here by perverting our constitution and the rule of law, but I can't say I am surprised.
The US and the puppet Batista killed hundreds of thousands of Castro's people. What's the big deal? It's all karmic.
I am not sure where this notion that Castro, and I am referring to Raul Castro, has "killed hundreds of thousands of people" comes from, but I googled it and was unable to find anything approaching that number. I digress. For what, 50 years, the US has had sanctions against Cuba, our neighbor less than 90 miles away, and no diplomatic contact. As result, we have accomplished nothing. Nothing at all. Cuba still exists, and we still have sanctions. We also have over 1,000,000 folks in the US of Cuban descent, some of whom are cut off from their families in Cuba due to this. We have a ridiculous feet wet/feet dry policy. We have a dysfunctional mess when it comes to dealing with Cuba, a mess over stuff that happened long, long ago and affects us not at all right now. In short, after 50 years, is it not time we start something approaching diplomacy?
Of course it is, and the outrage over shaking hands with someone is nothing more, in my wise and generally correct opinion, reflexive outrage. I have no doubt there would be factions on the right going nuts if Obama snubbed Castro, and would say that he is lacking in diplomatic skills.
From your link. After the US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey, aimed at Moscow, and the failed US attempt to overthrow the Cuban regime, in May 1962 Nikita Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt. For starters, the Cuban missile crisis was part of on ongoing escalation that two sides were participating in, as your link clearly notes that we placed missiles in Turkey that could strike the USSR. . Let's not pretend that we were completely innocent in the matter. Second, it was 51 years ago. The USSR is deader than disco. I think it is time to get over it.
The U.S. arms embargo had been in force since March 1958 when armed conflict broke out in Cuba between rebels and the Fulgencio Batista regime. In July 1960, in response to Cuba's new revolutionary government's seizure of US properties, the United States reduced the Cuban import quota of brown sugar to 700,000 tons, under the Sugar Act of 1948; the Soviet Union responded by agreeing to purchase the sugar instead, as Cuba's new government continued to take further actions to nationalize American businesses and privately owned properties. wiki
Source for Raul Castro "killing hundreds of thousands of his own people"? Reagan shook hands with the Premiers of the Soviet Union and China. I guess that made him an "old friend" of them and he must have "admired" what they were doing. - - - Updated - - - After all this time? No, I don't. We don't even have sanctions on Vietnam and China and the regimes there have actually killed hundreds of thousands of their own people.
How many nukes did we have stationed around the Soviet Union at the time? You really expected them to do nothing? Its the story of America: we can dish it out, but we can't take it.
Nah! Shake his hand, pat him on the shoulder and say in as loud and carrying a voice as possible, "That information you secretly gave the U.S. back in the 1960s on your brother really came in handy for JFK!" . . . and then see how long he lives after returning to Cuba.
We don't we have sanctions on Saudi Arabia? Or Venezuela? Or South Korea? Our foreign policy should not revolve around keeping corporations rich.
Lots of places from Cambodia to Russia killed lots of their people. Far more than Cuba ever has. Further, lots of places have dictators or governments every bit as totalitarian (including our buddies in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan). Yet they are all fine. The Cuba policy is just one of hundreds of examples of American hypocrisy. I went to Cuba a few years ago. Nice folks. Not even too upset about the embargo.
I don't give a (*)(*)(*)(*). I don't really care if we have an embargo with Cuba or not, the fact is Obama should have passed this loser right up.
In todays time, only a liberal like yourself takes sides over our enemies, much like Obama. Bravo....you now have lost all respect in this forum. - - - Updated - - - Obama doesn't have the balls to say anything, he's a wimp.
I disagree. After 50 years of senseless hostilities that have harmed all sides economically, I say that the appropriate thing to do is to be cordial.
