Obama's Cuba Credibility Deficit

at 11:09 AM Sunday, January 25, 2015

One of the biggest problems with the Obama Administration's deal with the Castro dictatorship is its lack of credibility.

The secrecy of the negotiations that preceded it and the lack of accountability in its implementation have certainly not helped.

But also adding to this lack of credibility are the Obama Administration's past actions.

Take the following two statements this weekend by Obama Administration officials.

First, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Roberta Jacobson, upon her return from the first round of "normalization" talks in Havana:

"One of the most important aspects of our visit, and of the the next ones, was to make sure that [opposition] activists understand that nothing in our policy changes our desire to work with them and maintain our support. That was one of our first objectives. If they felt abandoned, we wanted to assure them that wasn't the case."

That's nice rhetoric.  

However, ask Iran's Green Movement, Syria's moderate opposition, Venezuela's student movement, China's intellectuals and Burma's ethnic minorities how the Obama Administration's empty rhetoric (while embracing their oppressors) have worked out?

Not so well.

Then, White House Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, tells Fox News Sunday:

“We don’t get into negotiations with terrorists, we don’t pay ransoms, because that cash then fuels further kidnappings, which just continues to exasperate the problem.”

That's nice also.

However, ask the Taliban, Iran's mullahs and Cuba's Castro brothers whether they believe this to be true. After all, the Obama Administration has -- in fact -- negotiated with them, been coerced and paid ransoms for the taking of American hostages.

This is also why during these week's "normalization" talks, the Castro regime continued trying to coerce the United States.

For actions speak louder than words.