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Romney’s Foreign Policy: A Cruel Joke on Humanity

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Last updated on February 9th, 2013 at 02:39 pm

According to Pierre Prosper, Obama’s “Czechoslovakia” policy is harming America. This is a painfully embarrassing statement coming from Romney’s foreign policy adviser.

“You know Russia is another example where we give and Russia gets and we get nothing in return. The United States abandoned its missile defense sites in Poland and Czechoslovakia, yet Russia does nothing but obstruct us, or efforts in Iran and Syria.”

The conference call, in which Prosper was one of 3 Romney advisers participated, said a few more things about what a Romney foreign policy would look like.

Listen here courtesy of Think Progress:

Romney’s desire to take us back to the Bush Administration’s foreign policy is a reminder that politics plays cruel jokes on humanity. The Bush Administration’s foreign policy managed to alienate even our closest allies. The Bush Administration took us into the Iraq war with lies and without a means to pay for it. The Bush Administration’s approach to international relations was summed up in one sentence: “You are either with us, or you are with the enemy.”

For all the flaws in the Bush Administration, one that remains blight on our national soul is its torture policy. As noted by Elizabeth Holtzman recently, while discussing crimes committed by the Bush Administration, torture is a crime under the U.S. Criminal Code. (U.S.C.C.) The evidence remains available and so does the option to prosecute Bush Administration Officials who were responsible for the torture policy.

“There’s a statute that says it is a federal crime to engage in torture or to authorize torture abroad. It is not a factual dispute that he authorized the waterboarding of various and enhanced techniques of various people. vice president Cheney has admitted that as well. no factual dispute.”

Truth be told, the Obama Administration let the nation down the moment this crime was swept under the rug. War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity don’t merely disappear when they are swept under the rug. Rather, they are given a form of legitimacy that makes it possible to resurrect such policies.

Does anyone remember the Republican foreign policy debate? With the exception of Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, all the candidates said they approved of the Bush torture policy. That includes presumptive nominee Mitt Romney. Prosper was United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues during the Bush administration and yes, while the Bush Administration designed and implemented its torture policy.

There is more cruelty to this joke when we remember that Pierre Prosper prosecuted one of the most famous cases at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. (ICTR) Those of us who pay attention to International Humanitarian law recognize the significant legal advances made by Prosper’s successful prosecution of the Akeyesu case. It was the first successful conviction for the crime of genocide under the ICTR statute. Prosper also successfully prosecuted Akeysu for other crimes against humanity including torture. In that case, Prosper advanced international humanitarian law by successfully gaining recognition that rape committed in a time of conflict was a crime against humanity.

For someone with the legal where with all to accomplish these advances, one has to wonder just where Prosper’s legal expertise went when crimes against humanity were implemented in his own back yard.

Like I said earlier, politics can play cruel jokes on humanity. It’s disappointing when one of the jokers is someone who really should know better.