An Important Recognition on Sanctions

MARCH 30, 2011


In the New York Times, renowned journalist Al Hunt defends the Obama Administration's policy towards Libya (and criticizes the Bush Administration) by recognizing an important (and common-sense) fact:

That easing sanctions finances the repression of dictators.

Note to President Obama: The same applies to the Castro brothers in Cuba.

Here's Hunt's critique:

The criticism from neoconservatives that Mr. Obama is a multilateralist, hesitant to exercise U.S. power, in the mold of Presidents Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, does not stand up to scrutiny. Mr. Obama escalated the war in Afghanistan — committing more troops and more air assaults than the Bush administration even considered — stayed the course in Iraq, and when Somali pirates took an American freighter captain hostage, the president ordered U.S. Navy snipers to shoot the captors; three pirates were killed and the American was freed.

Further, the Reagan and Bush examples, so cherished by conservatives, are especially ironic when discussing Libya. It was Mr. Bush five years ago who normalized relations with Colonel Qaddafi after the dictator renounced weapons of mass destruction. That easing of tensions has enriched his coffers to pay for the current repression.