Tell me again why Democrats are different from Republicans
Bush appoints John Negroponte to be ambassador to Iraq
George Bush has appointed a diplomat infamous for supporting right-wing death squads in Central America during the 1980s to succeed Paul Bremer as the top US official in Iraq. UN Ambassador John Negroponte is set to take over what will be the largest US embassy in the world, that in Baghdad.
And what, you ask, are Democrats doing about this? Opposing the appointment? Becoming outraged that this sends precisely the wrong signal to a country we are at least pretending to want to lead to democracy? No, no, not at all, Democrats are doing none of this. Instead, they think it’s just a peachy keen idea, and are not even putting up token resistance.
“The Honduras issue is ancient history. The hearings will be an opportunity to look at Iraq,” said a Democratic congressional staffer involved in foreign policy issues. “It’s more important that we have a workable plan [for Iraq] and get the international community more engaged. This should be about a process more than an individual.”
A process that involves a person as tainted as Negroponte will alienate other countries, not get them involved. Not to mention uncounted more alienated Iraqis. What are they thinking?