Z-Big on Obama
Zbigniew Brzezinski doesn't believe in speaking down to his audience.
The former national security advisor to Jimmy Carter introduced Sen. Barack Obama at Ashford Univ. on 9/12, after decrying the Bush admin's colonialist policies in a postcolonial world, saying that the admin. had "used mendacity" to justify the war and that "it has discredited America as a whole."
For Brzezinski, support for Obama, means support for a radical change in direction of U.S. foreign policy. In an interview for NBC News and the National Journal, Brezezinski evoked the mantle of former presidents Wilson, Truman and JFK to describe Obama's vision for the U.S. in a post-9/11 world.
"What makes Obama attractive to me," Brzezinski said, 'is that he understand that we live in a very different world where we have to relate to a variety of cultures and peoples."
He says that willingness to understand the subtext of culture allows for a more informed foreign policy that can create a comprehensive strategy in Iraq that is inclusive rather than delineating the region into those who are allies of the United States and those who are against it.
When asked why a freshman senator from IL who has had no real foreign policy experience could be qualified to take on the challenges of a new world order, Brzezinski said that Obama grasps the history of this moment.
"The real test for qualifications is not some extensive record of travel or bureaucratic service, it's the ability to understand what is the nature of the historical movement," he said. "Why was Truman qualified? He was a haberdasher. Look at some recent leaders. Look at President Clinton what were his qualifications?"
Brezenski said he didn't directly have a hand in Obama's speech today, where the senator called for the Bush admin. to immediately begin withdrawing troops from Iraq. But he said that he may have "indirectly" influenced his speech because he has been talking to the Senator for many months.
Obama's emphasis on speaking to foreign leaders could be echoes of Brzezinski's viewpoints, who re-emphasized the need to engage Iraq's neighbors, including Iran to help stabilize the situation within the country after the U.S. withdraws.
He dismissed the notion that leaving Iraq could leave it open to civil war and a wider sectarian conflict that could engulf the region, a fear that Amb. Ryan Crocker alluded to in his testimony before the Senate yesterday.
"The admin is really putting American in the position of being a prisoner of uncertainty," he said. "We know the engagement is costly to us. We don't know what the consequences of disengagement will be, but the admistration always says it will be the worst possible."
Brzezenski said that Iran would be a partner in helping the situation in Iraq rather than the foe that the Bush administration claims it to be because it could face instability within its own borders if Iraq were to "blow up."
"If you look at the math, the overlap between Iran and Iraq, Iran has an enormous stake in Iraq not blowing up because it itself could blow up."
Despite his experience, some say Brzezisnski's support could hurt Obama with Jewish voters. An article in Politico said that Brzezinski came under fire for defending a book that was deemed anti-Israeli.
Brzezinski said he was proud to be "part of the only adminisratio that brought about peace between Isreal and its neighbors and so I'm proud of my record in the Middle East."
Judy Nichols from IL, who attended the speech was more carried away by the 79-year-old former foreign policy advisor than the senator.
"I just learned something new for him about how this is a colonial war and we're trying to impose our ideas on people who aren't ready for them," she said.
What remains to be seen is if Brezezinski/Obama world view will catch fire among Iowans or be an attempt to impose a foreign policy that voters are not ready to embrace.
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