How to insult 85,000,000 people in one hour

Previously, in our three articles on Foreign Policy, we have enumerated a discouraging series of "faux pas", and recommended to recall our non-diplomat ambassadors to United Nations, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Canada (eh!).

Following last week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Vietnam, perhaps, we should ask our President and Secretary of State to stay home.

Ms Rice, an expert on Russia, should know better about communist countries (if we exclude Cuba). It was not wise, appropriate and surely not diplomatic, to declare to the media, in front of the Vietnamese leaders, that Vietnam was isolated, 20 years ago, and made a strategic choice to begin some reforms. And she dared to add that the Vietnamese Authorities have turned to serious reforms, only in recent years.

Did she forget that she was in a host country, and that Vietnam is still a communist country. In other words, not only she was insulting her hosts, but, confirming the success of a communist regime. Why not congratulate the Cuban Authorities? Oops, forgot! The Miami votes sponsored by a $100 million budget for promoting democracy, US style.

Same day, same forum, our Dear President: "We will succeed in Iraq, unless we quit". So, we failed in Vietnam, because, we left too early. We should have stayed the course, against the will of the Vietnamese people.

Our president should have slowed-down his motorcade, and look at the hundreds of posters, sculptures and other reminiscences of the American humiliation in Vietnam. The embryonic goodwill created by President Clinton, and Hillary (meeting people in the street), has been washed away (how about the anti-abortion principle?), but the anti-American posters will remain.

Another barrier for our companies or institutions looking to do business and/or partnerships with Vietnam. How do we dare trading with a communist country, anyhow? "It's ok. Cuba is a different communism". China and Vietnam, that's good communism. Cuba is a bad communist. Eleven million people: that's dangerous.

The trip to Vietnam was another great success for our Foreign Policy, just a few more "faux pas":

i- our President, and Secretary of State have insulted 85 million people

ii- more than 2.3 billion people, from 20 participating countries, have read with astonishment, the low-class remarks by our dignitaries.

And we are surprised why so many people hate us. Is it too much to ask the members of our New Congress to become more mature, more responsible, more aware of the real world, for the benefits of our future generations?

Now that Ms Rice has used an international forum to recognize the merits of communism (or certain achievements) she should, in good governance of the funds raised from tax payers, cancel the present $10 million budget of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba (tentative 2), as well as the $80 million more that she recommended as Head of the said Commission.

Producing deck of cards (with Fidel Castro as ace of spade), distributing Harry Potter books and Nintendo games, giving grants to students who do not show up, etc, etc. , are certainly not a sine qua non condition to succeed in promoting democracy in Cuba. We have better, and more productive ideas. See our previous articles: "How to promote democracy". We also can prepare specific projects for a mutually beneficial relationship, for generations to come.

Hoping that Congressmen Bill Delahunt (Massachusetts) and Jeffrey Flake (Arizona) take notice, action, and investigate the $100 million, of our tax money, already wasted in Miami. The next $100 million spent on Cuba, should be more productive. For doing so, it should exclude politicians, government agencies and ex-Cubans.