Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Cuba's WMDs: Good baseball and even better cigars

(Pic courtesy of Associated Press)

With President Obama being overseas, I can't help but be in a foreign affairs state of mind. It's also a weakly veiled attempt at me transitioning to one of my favorite subjects.

The world being the mess that it is at times, I truly think this gentleman who inherited the best job at the worst possible time -- our president -- should start small with his foreign policy objectives. At least the ones that don't require immediate attention, which are few and far between.

As the fourth attache to the cultural aide of the former secretary of the now-defunct State Department Office of Cultural Things You Wouldn't Understand, I am putting forth Cuba as the perfect beginning for this exercise.

Our embargo has run its course and Fidel has run his. So why do we still have this outdated fossilized policy from the Cold War? Communism isn't the "ism" of concern currently; it's that other "ism" that starts with terror. The Bay of Pigs wasn't exactly a crowning moment in and of itself, so the old-school approach could probably use some retooling.

In the end, embargoes and sanctions just hurt the general populace; the exact folks we want on our side while we're meddling in their country's affairs for whatever reason.

Besides, when it comes down to it, the only weapons of mass destruction Cuba has are good baseball players and even better cigars.

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