Bibi’s 3 Amigos Undercutting Kerry
There’s a longstanding tradition in America that foreign policy stops at the water’s edge. It has been eroding for years but what happened in Jerusalem earlier this month washed it out to sea.
Three U.S. senators plunged into a very sensitive diplomatic mission by the secretary of state, undermining his already difficult efforts to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Now whether you think John Kerry is on a fool’s mission or he is the last best hope for peace for years to come, that can be debated between members of Congress and the administration back in Washington. But Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and John Barrasso chose to launch their attack on Kerry, their former Senate colleague, in the middle of his mission. Compounding their poor judgment was that they sounded like Likud spokesmen for the Netanyahu government. And their performance didn’t end there. They also attacked the administration on Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
It may boost their insatiable egos and get them on the TV talk shows back home, and it makes little difference whether you share their views or not, they only make the Secretary of State’s job more difficult and put their country in a bad light. Debate at home is essential, undercutting the secretary of state while on a delicate mission is irresponsible.
Read more about it in my Washington Watch column.