Capitulation to Cuba is par for the course for Obama

Capitulation to Cuba is par for the course for Obama
By Jennifer Rubin January 15 at 2:45 PM

The magnitude of the administration's sellout of the Cuban people became
clear today. The Post reports:

Men play chess on the sidewalk in downtown Havana January 9, 2015.
REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini (CUBA – Tags: SOCIETY)
The Obama administration took its first major steps Thursday to chip
away at the Cold War-era embargo against Cuba, easing the way for
Americans to visit the island and loosening trade rules to allow the
flow of goods ranging from computers to Cuban cigars.

The announcement — just a month after a surprise decision to seek a
restoration of diplomatic ties with Havana after more than 50 years —
appears to reflect a desire by the White House to move quickly to clear
away barriers in place before President Obama was born.

Indeed, the administration can't give away the store fast enough.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in a written statement declared, "This is a
windfall for the Castro regime that will be used to fund its repression
against Cubans, as well as its activities against U.S. national
interests in Latin America and beyond. Given existing U.S. laws about
our Cuba policy, this slew of regulations leave at least one major
question President Obama and his administration have failed to answer so
far: what legal authority does he have to enrich the Castro regime in
these ways?"

Rubio noted that he has yet to get a response from the administration as
to how this will all be done and still be consistent with U.S. law.
"While those questions remain unanswered, one thing that's become even
more crystal clear today is that this one-sided deal is enriching a
tyrant and his regime at the expense of U.S. national interests and the
Cuban people," he added.

Likewise, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Bob Corker
(Tenn.) vowed, "What you're going to see in the Foreign Relations
Committee is a robust set of hearings around all of this. Not just the
issue of the administration's policies but the embargo itself. This has
not been top of mind.' He expressed concern about "what the
administration is attempting to do, what the Castro administration is
looking to do — behavioral change, in regard — and then we can look at
the bigger policies."

The answer is simple: The president wanted to get rid of what he sees as
a vestige of the Cold War. We prop up the Castro regime by giving it
tourist and trade dollars, and it will continue to oppress the Cuban
people. Is there some confusion here?

This latest move on Cuba highlights how little the administration cares
about reciprocity. Its interest is in soothing tyrants and avoiding
conflict, even at the expense of U.S. interests.Take Ukraine and Iran
for example:

On Ukraine, the administration, ranking member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Robert Menendez fumed, should be fully implementing
sanctions against Russia and aid in light of "Russian-supplied proxies
in eastern Ukraine[causing] havoc on the lives of innocent people in the
region" including the killing of 10 Ukrainian civilians and "the Russian
kidnapping and imprisonment of Ukrainian Air Force pilot, Nadiya
Savchenko, who is on a hunger strike".

And on Iran: "Republican and Democratic U.S. lawmakers will press ahead
with a plan for more sanctions on Iran, the chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee said on Wednesday, despite White House
warnings that they risked derailing nuclear talks. Lawmakers, who say
they fear Obama administration negotiators may not take a hard enough
line with Tehran, are also at work on a separate bill to have Congress
approve any final agreement on Iran's nuclear program, Senator Bob
Corker, the chairman, told Reuters in an interview."

Democrats and Republicans, whether they are in Congress or gearing up
for a presidential race, need to be pressed on whether they agree with
Obama's policies. Do they approve of the "fire sale" style of
negotiating with rogue regimes in Iran and Cuba? Do they support
inertness in the face of Russian aggression? Then voters can decide who
is going to defend American interests and who will not.


Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering
reported opinion from a conservative perspective.

Source: Capitulation to Cuba is par for the course for Obama - The
Washington Post -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/01/15/capitulation-to-cuba-is-par-for-the-course-for-obama/