Lugar Calls for a "Return to Realism" on Cuba

[babylonsister]

Lugar Calls for a "Return to Realism" on Cuba
Submitted by davidswanson on Sun, 2009-02-22 13:34.

By Steve Clemons, Washington Note


Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Richard Lugar, a long time
realist and serious strategic thinker about America's national security
challenges, has just popped the bubble of those who have used Cuba for
decades in their ineffective ideological crusades.

Lugar's team is releasing on Monday a new 'committee print' titled "CHANGING
CUBA POLICY -- IN THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL INTEREST." (pdf here)

For US-Cuba policy junkies, the report is pretty breathtaking in its
indictment of decades of American failure in trying to adjust Cuba's
national government's behavior via sanctions and an embargo.

In his opening missive in the document, Senator Lugar states:

Economic sanctions are a legitimate tool of U.S. foreign policy, and
they have sometimes achieved their aims, as in the case of apartheid South
Africa.

After 47 years, however, the unilateral embargo on Cuba has failed to
achieve its stated purpose of "bringing democracy to the Cuban people,"
while it may have been used as a foil by the regime to demand further
sacrifices from Cuba's impoverished population.

more...

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/40089

[spanone]

1. i agree with mr lugar....cuban policy reminds me of 'reefer-madness'

[CLANG]

2. Too bad he had to wait for a dem admin to make this statement.

[madokie]

3. I was just saying to some friends the other evening that I hoped that

normalizing relations with cuba would be in the works now that we have smart thinking men as our President and Vice President.


The two places in this world I would like to visit is Cuba and Vietnam. Doubt I'll get too but if I had a wish that would be it. Cuba was a big deal for me during the missle crisis as a kid of 13 and seven years later so was VN. The first I was coming of age, with the other I became a man.

[roody]

4. End the travel ban. In the meantime, disobey.

The House and Senate have introduced identical bills (HR 874 and S428) which would
allow ALL U.S. citizens or legal residents to travel freely to Cuba. IFCO/Pastors
for Peace strongly supports this initiative, as one of many steps that need to be
taken to undo the unjust, immoral, and senseless US blockade.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATORS and ask them to give
support and co-sponsorship to HR874 or S428

By phone

Call the Capitol switchboard: 202/225-3121, and ask for your representative/senators
by name. Ask to speak with the staff person who deals with foreign affairs and/or
US/Cuba relations. Tell them you're a constituent and you are asking your
representative to co-sponsor and support "HR874/S428, the bill to allow travel
between the US and Cuba." (It's ok to leave a voicemail message if you don't get
through.)

By email

For the Senate get your senators contact via
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

and cut and paste in the following text - or your own words – into the email form:

YES TO S428. RESTORE THE RIGHT OF ALL AMERICANS TO TRAVEL TO CUBA

Dear Senator ___________,

I ask you to cosponsor S.428 that would restore my right as a US citizen to travel
to Cuba unrestricted.
To cosponsor, contact the office of Senator Dorgan (D-ND) or Sen. Lugar (R-IN) or
Sen. Enzi (R-WY) or Sen. Dodd (D-CT).

For the House get your representative's contact via
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml#W

Cut and paste the following text – or your own words – into the email form:

YES TO HR874. RESTORE THE RIGHT OF ALL AMERICANS TO TRAVEL TO CUBA

Dear Representative __________,

I ask you to cosponsor HR874 that would restore my right as a US citizen to travel
to Cuba unrestricted.

To cosponsor, contact the office of Representative William Delahunt (D-Mass)