I do not believe the administration’s acts are a result of a void of information, in fact I am certain they know exactly what is going on taking into account the size and budget of the US intelligence apparatus. My best guess is these acts are facilitated by a desire of the new administration to distance itself from its predecessor by playing the role of “unbiased” broker on this issue. This is consistent with their desire for a “multilateral” approach to foreign policy. Unfortunately this approach only works under the assumption that the majority of countries involved are morally correct in their assessment of a situation. In reality, this is not usually the case given multiple agendas in addition to the fact that many countries are not democracies and incite these issues to direct attention away from their own misgivings. In this particular case, a great example is Brazil. Their desire to lock up a reliable oil supplier (Venezuela) to fuel rapid economic growth, in addition to Lula trying to make a “socialist” mark before the upcoming Brazilian election (where he will NOT run) has driven Brazil’s morally bankrupt position on Honduras. This is especially true given Lula’s budding friendship with the tyrant Ahmadinejad. There are many other examples but I think my point has been made.

In summary, from a foreign policy perspective, I hope Obama will grow up and realize that sometimes the world needs a leader to take a principaled position on foreign policy, without giving credence to the global chorus of criticism. This has been partially accomplished by the US acceptance of the election results but unjustly punishing those in Honduras responsible for protecting freedom in order to make a last ditch effort to pander to vile anti-US dictators? Not a good start.

World Affairs Guy
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