Against the Tide, by Lincoln Chafee: on Foreign Policy

Cass Ballenger: Personal friendship with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Such was their friendship that Congressman Ballenger, age 74, hosted President Chavez at a backyard barbeque in Hickory, North Carolina, in the spring of 2001. The cookout in Ballenger's backyard came much to the astonishment of his neighbors, whom he invited over the fence to meet the burly Venezuelan so often caricatured as a "foreign dictator."

"His rhetoric is worse than his actions," Congressman Ballenger once said of the man whose country was the 4th leading supplier of oil to the US. I liked the fact that a conservative Republican lawmaker and the head of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela had found a way to talk together, eat together, and accentuate what they had in common. Once acquainted, they found they had little desire to demonize each other.

Condoleezza Rice: Nothing positive about Hugo Chavez government in Venezuela

On Jan. 18. 2005, [at her confirmation hearing, I questioned] Condoleezza Rice; she would not acknowledge that the Venezuelans had voted their president into office in free and fair elections. I said in exasperation, "Is it possible for you to say SOMETHING positive about the Chavez administration?"

"It's pretty hard to find something positive," she said. Viewed through the official White House lens, the freely elected government of Venezuela was all bad. I never asked her to embrace that democracy or pretend we had no differences, just to step out of attack mode for a moment. She could think of nothing positive, and my time was up.

Dick Cheney: Disavow or cancel numerous international agreements

In steady, quiet tones, the vice president-elect laid out a shockingly divisive political agenda for the new Bush administration, glossing over nearly every pledge the Republican ticket had made to the America voter. We were going to get out of a host of international agreements, he said. We would disavow the UN's Kyoto Protocol on global climate change, even if it were to be ratified by a sufficient number of nations to give it the force of international law. We would end our support for the establishment of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. We would cancel the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty ratified in 1972. We would slash taxes by $1.6 trillion and wipe out the budget surpluses generated in the Clinton era.

Dick Cheney: OpEd: Browbeat Pakistani leaders to get tough on Al Qaeda

Anyone who attempts to rule such a country as Pakistan wants to suppress radical elements without drawing them into a mutual suicide pact. Common sense tells you that deals are made. You leave me alone, I leave you alone.

When Cheney went to Pakistan to browbeat the general to get tougher on Afghan fighters taking sanctuary in his country, I knew it would not be long before a "top Taliban commander" was captured in Pakistan, then everything would settle back down to the status quo.

We saw this routine for years with organized crime in New England. When the pressure was on, the Mafia would serve up an expendable stooge who was making trouble for the mob anyway, then it would be business as usual

George W. Bush: OpEd: No focus on Latin America despite campaign rhetoric

That summer, George W. Bush said Latin American had been a mere "afterthought" to the Clinton administration. "Those who ignore Latin America do not fully understand America itself. And those who ignore our hemisphere do not fully understand American interests."

The future president's "chief foreign policy adviser," Condoleezza Rice, said his guiding philosophy would be, "You start with strong neighbors and reach out from there."

Despite the "strong neighbors" the Bush-Cheney team had another view. In 2002, President Bush nominated the polarizing Otto Reich as secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs. Reich was a minor figure implicated in the Iran-Contra scandal in the 1980's. After launching the war in Iraq in 2003, the president paid little notice to Latin America.

James Inhofe: Bible gives promised land to Israel; no Palestinian state

He went on to speak of the West Bank and Gaza, and insisted that Israel must never yield this "promised land" to Palestinians. Why? "Because God said so," Senator Inhofe declared. "In Genesis, the Bible says: 'The Lord said to Abram, "Lift up now your eyes for all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever."

"This is God talking," the senator said. "This is not a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the Word of God is true." Senator Inhofe believes the Palestinians have no claim to the West Bank and Gaza. Certainly some Christians who read the Bible as literally as Jim Inhofe believe God would be pleased to see Israel negotiate with its Palestinian brothers and sisters and share the Promised Land.

Lincoln Chafee: War against Islamic extremism hinges on Pakistan

Every action we take in this Muslim nation tends to push Pakistanis to one side or the other of our roster of friends and enemies. In my time in Washington, I saw the Bush administration doing things that were virtually certain to promote extremism in this strategic country between the Middle East and the subcontinent [especially on the topic of getting] tougher on Afghan fighters taking sanctuary in Pakistan.

Lincoln Chafee: Castro doesn't want end to Cuban embargo

He dodged my question and zoomed off on a tangent that I no longer recall. But I was satisfied; by not answering my question, he had answered it.

Lincoln Chafee: Hugo Chavez does not fit into all-good-or-all-bad rhetoric

In the course of conversation, President Chavez allowed as how, unlike some of his neighboring heads of state, he had never been afforded an Oval Office photo opportunity. I sometimes wondered if this blow to his ego had played a part in escalating his fiery rhetoric [against President Bush].

I never got the feeling that Chavez enjoys being our enemy. Fidel Castro has made a living off playing David to the US' Goliath, but Castro is the past. Chavez is up-and-coming. It would make sense for him to forge the best possible relationship with us, and us with him. Of course, the clashists who came to power with President Bush would have none of that; they need every nation labeled and driven into one of two camps: all good or all bad.

When the clashists fanned the flames of enmity with Chavez, he ran with it, applying his talent for anti-American rhetoric in extravagant ways.

Lincoln Chafee: Strong supporter of Palestinian-Israeli land-for-peace deal

I was a strong supporter of the land-for-peace principle, which amounts to Palestinians gaining a homeland in exchange for recognizing the legitimacy of the state of Israel.

The president and I had battled over many issues but if he meant what he said about a Palestinian state, I would be one of his most vocal allies on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. I was in a key position now, as chairman of the subcommittee that has jurisdiction over our policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Old Testament: Bible gave promised land to Israel; not split with Palestine

He went on to speak of the West Bank and Gaza, and insisted that Israel must never yield this "promised land" to Palestinians. Why? "Because God said so," Senator Inhofe declared. "In Genesis, the Bible says: 'The Lord said to Abram, "Lift up now your eyes for all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed forever."

"This is God talking," the senator said. "This is not a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the Word of God is true." Senator Inhofe believes the Palestinians have no claim to the West Bank and Gaza. Certainly some Christians who read the Bible as literally as Jim Inhofe believe God would be pleased to see Israel negotiate with its Palestinian brothers and sisters and share the Promised Land.

Sam Brownback: No Palestinian state, even after ten years of peace

I said, "Sam, just theoretically, if the Palestinians were to cease all acts of violence for a year, or 2 years or 10 years then could we talk about a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza?

My fellow politician did not waffle, wiggle, or duck, as so many do. He thought about my question, then turned to me with an honest and direct answer: "No."