Palin Doesn’t Know Bush Doctrine
In tonight’s ABC interview with Sarah Palin, she was asked if she agreed with the Bush Doctrine. She couldn’t answer the question and didn’t look like she even knew what it was. For those who also don’t remember, here it is.
Here’s the interview segment:
How do you not know this, seeing as how its been the major direction foreign in policy for six years? There really is no excuse for it, and any governor should probably know why their National Guard troops are being sent overseas. Heck, I’m a just out of school college student and I know what it meant.
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" Heck, I’m a just out of school college student and I know what it meant"
OK describe and please list citations. I struggled with that question too. Now I could answer in several ways but isn’t that "sort of a trap" to assume what the questioner means by the "Bush Doctrine"?
Michael;
Please note your Wikipedia citation:
"describe various related foreign policy principles of United StatesGeorge W. Bush, created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. "
So really there are several answers to "what the Bush doctrine is" and therefore likely several answers to "do you agree with the Bush doctrine?" question.
Have to agree really. I doubt you’d see the exact question posed – yes or no – to all candidates.
How exactly would Obama answer it? Lets say there is undisputed information that inside Pakistan Osama is there – and we know where – without a doubt, but he’ll be there a short time and Pakistan is saying no way.
Would Obama let him go? Yes or No.
You know, I wrote out a very nice reply comment, and it didn’t post. So, lets try again:
From the horse’s mouth on WP article one (page numbers in parentheses):
WP article point 2:
And pretty much the entire rest of the document, besides those two sections, is about promoting democracy.
Apparently Barack Obama has a different definition of the Bush Doctrine than the one that Gibson gave:
"In a conference call with reporters, Obama said Clinton would continue the "Bush doctrine" of only speaking to leaders of rogue nations if they first meet conditions laid out by the United States. "
She was somewhat right to answer the question with another question, requesting clarification on what part of the "Bush doctrine" Gibson was referring to. The parts that most people ascribe to it are unilateralism, holding governments accountable for harboring terrorists or supporting terrorism, and preemptive strikes to protect American interests. One might agree with one or more parts of that, so that you can’t necessarily answer "yes" or "no" without clarification.
However, it’s clear that she fell into a trap and that if she really is well versed in this she could have avoided the criticism by listing those elements of the Bush doctrine and either giving her view on each or asking Gibson if he was asking for her take on one or all of those parts. The way she answered, IMO suggested that she may or may not have had adequate knowledge of what is termed "Bush doctrine." Of course in the quote I linked to above, it’s clear that sometimes some other elements of Bush’s foreign policy are ALSO being lumped in and labelled "The Bush Doctrine", and no one seemed to be concerned when Obama said this that he hasn’t been paying attention.
Thanks Michael for the link. I’ll be honest I didn’t read it all (Is there a Cliff Notes version that will allow me to cram for the test). Can I assume that there’s no label in the document declaring "this is the Bush doctrine"? (I’m not trying to be snide; I’m just curious)
Also given its publication in 2006 does that mean the stuff before the publication (like the invasion of Afganistan and Iraq, Guantanamo….) was part of a previous "dotrine"
the "Bush doctrine" still feels more like "the China card" sort of thing than say the "Marshall plan"
No, it isn’t labeled the "Bush Doctrine" anywhere. They call it the "National Security Strategy." I don’t think any president has been egotistical enough to name their policy after themselves.
But, outside the White House, that it what it’s known as, the Bush Doctrine. I’ve heard it called that at least once prior to the interview.
a guess, or assumption in other words.