The Centers for Disease Control guidance on coronavirus COVID-19 symptoms are “fever, cough, shortness of breath.”
Those symptoms defined Democratic presidential hopefuls in their answers to various foreign policy questions on Tuesday. There was a lot of shouting, a lot of hot air, and not a lot of pertinent value.
All the candidates at this CBS News debate in South Carolina said they would do all that could be done to protect America. But they didn’t offer more than words.
Bernie doubled down on his career of support for communist authoritarians from Nicaragua to Iran. With his pro forma platitudes on how America has ruined the world, Sanders claimed that he is a friend of American allies and to Israel. His words rang predictably hollow.
Pete Buttigieg said he is ready to “stand with” the people of Idlib, Syria, who are currently suffering under a coordinated Russian-Syrian offensive. That offensive is specifically targeting civilian infrastructure, with hospitals and schools in the crosshairs. Unfortunately, Buttigieg didn’t offer any specifics about how to deal with the issue.
On that same question, Warren resorted to her useful platitude pledge that she would “work with allies” to address the crisis and that she would provide “humanitarian aid” to Idlib’s people. Warren is apparently unaware that this would require penetrating Russian-controlled air defense networks, thus inherently jeopardizing her commitment not to use military force in Syria.
Warren also promised to stand closer with American allies. But as the Washington Post‘s Josh Rogin observed, the senator also called for a withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Something that would not necessarily be commensurate with “standing with” our Afghan allies. And when asked whether she would prevent Chinese access to U.S. 5G infrastructure networks, a notable concern for the Trump administration, Warren talked about Bloomberg’s taxes. It is not clear what Bloomberg’s taxes have to do with Chinese signal intelligence service operations. Warren would not answer whether she would move the U.S. Embassy in Israel back from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.
Tom Steyer said that America alone is to blame for difficult relations with traditional allies such as those in Europe. It’s a silly trope: Just this week, the European Union abandoned a plan to invest more in muchaneeded defense capabilities. The EU remains happy to be a defense freeloader on the United States.
Joe Biden blustered, without much clarity, on how he would prevent North Korea from firing off ballistic missiles.
Michael Bloomberg said he would prevent Chinese access to the U.S. 5G infrastructure network, but warned that being too harsh on China would be bad because “our economies are inextricably linked.” Bloomberg, absurdly, also suggested that Xi Jinping is not a dictator because he serves at the pleasure of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo. The China issue is quickly becoming a critical vulnerability for Bloomberg’s campaign. The billionaire seems genuinely determined to keep Xi happy with all his answers.
Amy Klobuchar had the strongest answer of the bunch, admitting that she would meet with Kim Jong Un as president (the right decision) but with more finite and defined expectations of North Korean “deliverable.” But this is as serious as any of the candidates’ foreign policy statements got on Tuesday — which is quite, cough, sad, cough.
