Barack Obama and John McCain argue over policy towards Cuba

[Grimmlok]

(CNN) -- Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama continued their tussle over foreign policy Tuesday, shifting their argument to whether the U.S. should engage Cuba's communist regime.

Over the last few days, the two have sparred over whether the U.S. should engage diplomatically with another regime considered hostile to the U.S. -- Iran.

At a Tuesday campaign event in Miami, Florida, McCain attacked Obama's position in favor of a possible relaxation of the Cuban embargo policy and discussions with the leadership of the island nation.

"These steps would send the worst possible signal to Cuba's dictators -- there is no need to undertake fundamental reforms, they can simply wait for a unilateral change in U.S. policy. I believe we should give hope to the Cuban people, not to the Castro regime," said the presumed Republican nominee, saying the embargo needed to remain in place until the Cuban government democratized. Watch McCain blast Obama's stance toward Cuba »

But in an interview with CNN, Obama, the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race and potentially McCain's rival in the general election, said McCain had mischaracterized his position on Cuba.

"I have never said that I was prepared to immediately normalize relations with Cuba," Obama said. "The only person who has flip-flopped on this issue is John McCain, who in 2000 said that he would be prepared to start normalizing relations even if a whole host of steps have not been taken. That is a reversal from the position he is taking now."

Obama said Tuesday that his policy, which would loosen restrictions on remittances from Cubans living in the United States to relatives on the island, and on their travel between the United States and Cuba, would be "a show of good faith" that would help move the U.S.-Cuba relationship "in the direction of normalization."

"And what I have also said is that I will be willing to engage in direct talks with Cuba," said Obama. "Now, I know that John McCain likes to characterize this as me immediately having Raul Castro over for tea. What I've said is that we would set a series of meetings with low level diplomats. ... John McCain keeps on making these statements that simply aren't based on anything I've said."

"John McCain essentially wants to continue George Bush's policies of not talking to leaders we don't like and not talking to countries we don't like. It has been a failed policy," said the Illinois senator, adding that Iran had gotten stronger because President Bush "engaged in a war in Iraq that John McCain facilitated that has strengthened Iran."

McCain suggested at a Chicago, Illinois, campaign event Monday that Obama doesn't understand the "basic realities of international relations" and that engaging Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad diplomatically would only embolden him.

"Sen. Obama has declared, and repeatedly reaffirmed his intention to meet the president of Iran without any preconditions, likening it to meetings between former American presidents and the leaders of the Soviet Union," said McCain, who frequently criticizes Ahmadinejad on the campaign trail. "Such a statement betrays the depth of Sen. Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment."

Obama said Tuesday that "this obsession with Ahmadinejad is an example of us losing track of what's important."

"I would be willing to meet with Iranian leaders if we had done sufficient preparations for that meeting," Obama said. "Whether Ahmadinejad is the right person to meet with right now, we don't even know how much power he is going to have a year from now. He is not the most powerful person in Iran."

McCain, Obama argue over Cuba policy - CNN.com

LOL

McSame sounds like a total tard, and Obama keeps on making sense.

[witchcurlgirl]

The ironic thing about Cuba is that only the US has an embargo, the rest of the world trades with them and they have all these economic issues...

So in the case of Cuba it's clearly the leadership of that nation that causes the issue and not the fact that the US doesn't trade with them. Cuba lost it's financial backer when the USSR fell, and no one subsidizes the shortfall that the sovs used to give to them

[Grimmlok]

Well Cuba isn't exactly a huge economy to begin with.. Cuba's major exports are sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish, medical products, citrus, and coffee, and they only export a couple billion a year. They don't seem to have any real manufacturing capability beyond that.. no heavy industry beyond some of the nickel extraction which can't amount to much.

Apparently their quality of life is increasing despite the US embargo, which did cause some problems in the 80's.. they're more free market, and the tourism industry has taken off quite substantially.

I still think it's amusing that there is an embargo at all on the island.. so they're commies, big deal. So's China and the rest of the planet imports ridiculous amounts from them. Saudi Arabia is an oppressive, autocratic regime but no problems there.

The embargo and relations issue seems more like a grudge match that has little to no basis in reality.

I still think it was funny when the US tried to order Canada to stop trading with Cuba, and we laughed in their faces. Good times.