Only ONE Candidate Has the Creds to Talk About This: Hillary Rodham Clinton
When foreign policy comes up at the debates this cycle, on one side
we hear one thing: ISIS ISIS ISIS. On the other side the refrain begins
with the dreaded, notorious, and monotonous Iraq War Vote, and then
Bernie Sanders wanders over the rainbow to a land where Saudi Arabia and
Iran team up like munchkins and flying monkeys to assure the defeat of
terrorism in that region by throwing a bucket of water on ISIS.
Ted
Cruz has raised this issue, but somehow it never quite makes it into
the meat of the debate. Donald Trump, of course, intends to crush China
by any means necessary.
The truth is, there is a means to combat
this aggression right at our fingertips and nothing is being done to
implement it. Here is the issue:
Beijing’s
provocative move to put sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles on little
Woody Island breaks previous promises and invites retaliation.
China deployed its advanced HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles
on Woody Island in the South China Sea sometime in the first half of
this month, Pentagon officials have revealed. Images of the missiles
were released yesterday by various news organizations, and Taiwan’s
defense ministry confirmed the reports.
The
Chinese deployment breaks a series of pledges Beijing made to the
United States and the international community, one as recently as last
month by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Secretary of State John Kerry
during Kerry’s trip to Beijing.
The missile deployments will destabilize the already troubled South China Sea,
and the situation there could deteriorate fast as various nations,
including the United States, introduce military assets in response to
Beijing’s rapid build-up. Read more >>>>
Long
ago, back in 2008 before the election, those who were laying the
groundwork for the emergence of the Tea Party spoke in hushed, dire
tones about the "Law of the Sea Treaty" (LOST) as if it were some alien
conspiracy to divest the United States of certain powers and options.
The opposite was and is true.
As Secretary of State, Hillary
Clinton foresaw some probabilities on the foreign stage. One was the
Arab Spring. She warned the Arab elders at Forum for the Future
two years in a row that alienation from participation and unemployment
were severe problems boiling beneath the surface among their
populations. Hillary did not cause the Arab Spring. She predicted
trouble if inclusion and jobs were not prioritized by leadership. She
listened to their civil societies, perceived the growing unrest, and
warned.
Hillary also knew that ratification of LOST was important and urgent. Here is how she introduced a plea for ratification.
May 23, 2012
I
am well aware that this treaty does have determined opposition, limited
but nevertheless quite vociferous. And it’s unfortunate because it’s
opposition based in ideology and mythology, not in facts, evidence, or
the consequences of our continuing failure to accede to the treaty. So I
think you’ll hear, from both Secretary Panetta and General Dempsey as
well as myself, further statements and information that really
reinforces the very strong points that both of you have made.We believe
that it is imperative to act now. No country is better served by this
convention than the United States. As the world’s foremost maritime
power, we benefit from the convention’s favorable freedom of navigation
provisions. As the country with the world’s second longest coastline, we
benefit from its provisions on offshore natural resources. As a country
with an exceptionally large area of seafloor, we benefit from the
ability to extend our continental shelf, and the oil and gas rights on
that shelf. As a global trading power, we benefit from the mobility that
the convention accords to all commercial ships. And as the only country
under this treaty that was given a permanent seat on the group that
will make decisions about deep seabed mining, we will be in a unique
position to promote our interests.
(The "opposition
based in ideology and mythology" Hillary referred to was, in fact GOP
and specifically Tea Party opposition, making it odd that it is Ted Cruz
alone who occasionally brings the South China Sea to the table.)
And there was this.
Now
as a non-party to the convention, we rely – we have to rely – on what
is called customary international law as a legal basis for invoking and
enforcing these norms. But in no other situation at which – in which our
security interests are at stake do we consider customary international
law good enough to protect rights that are vital to the operation of the
United States military. So far we’ve been fortunate, but our
navigational rights and our ability to challenge other countries’
behavior should stand on the firmest and most persuasive legal footing
available, including in critical areas such as the South China Sea.
I’m
sure you have followed the claims countries are making in the South
China Sea. Although we do not have territory there, we have vital
interests, particularly freedom of navigation. And I can report from the
diplomatic trenches that as a party to the convention, we would have
greater credibility in invoking the convention’s rules and a greater
ability to enforce them.
Most will not remember that later in 2012, as Dems were gathering to renominate Barack Obama in Charlotte, Hillary was on her way to an ASEAN Summit where issues in the South China Sea would be at the forefront.
BRISBANE,
Australia — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling
for Southeast Asian states to present a united front to the Chinese in
dealing with territorial disputes in the South China Sea. SNIP
She
wants “to strengthen ASEAN unity going forward,” a senior U.S. official
told reporters on board Clinton’s plane as she flew from the Cook
Islands to Australia for a brief refueling stop en route to Indonesia. Read more >>>>
Issues
in the South China Sea would be far more easily settled if the United
States were to assume its leadership position at the table as the
world's leading maritime power. This is an issue Hillary carries in her
back pocket, and it has yet to arise in any question at a town hall or
debate. Here is what happened the last time LOST came up for a vote.
Readers
here know, it’s right there in the sidebar, the importance Hillary
Clinton invested in ratification of the Law of the Sea Treat (LOST). She testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 23 of this year calling ratification “urgent” if
the U.S. is to have equal footing on a level playing field in
conflicts arising over jurisdictions with regard to offshore drilling
and mining. Ratification would permit us to extend our own continental
shelf 200 miles – we have four of them! But Rachel Maddow
last hour reported, as her blog explains, that the GOP has likely
killed the ratification that would have boosted our economy and
strengthened our position both in the global economy and militarily on
the high seas. According to the blog post, the last two “nails in the
coffin” were Senators Rob Portman and Kelly Ayotte – names in the news
as possible Veep choices for Mitt Romney. Goes to show you, the
Republicans can be transparent … it is
possible. Stunning considering the long list of Republicans who
supported ratification. Ambition, apparently knows no party loyalty –
or common sense! Read more >>>>
If
President Obama looked a little haggard when he spoke to the press
today, it was not all about Congress stonewalling a SCOTUS nomination.
Guess where he was! And guess what they were talking about!
President
Barack Obama, center, speaks at the plenary session meeting of ASEAN,
the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, at the Annenberg
Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for Monday, Feb. 15,
2016. Sitting with Obama are Laos' president, Choummaly Sayasone, left,
and Brunei's sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, right. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez
Monsivais)
A fair town hall or debate question at any
and all events this week should address foreign policy on a broader
scale than the Middle East. The South China Sea may be on the other
side of the globe, but what happens there affects us all. Only one candidate knows what needs to be done.
