Reason rears its ugly head on Condi's LatAm trip

WHAT...? did i just catch a whiff of reason being applied to foreign affairs...? on her trip this weekend to chile and bolivia, condi:

. . . indicated Saturday that the United States would look for ways to resume military assistance to Latin American nations cut off from aid programs because of their refusal to shield Americans from the International Criminal Court.

now, don't get me wrong... i'm not saying it's "REASONABLE" to keep pumping military aid into latin america (or anywhere else for that matter), but it certainly does make sense to stop trying to find ways to punish countries that don't follow the u.s. into the moral thicket du jour...

Eliminating or reducing military assistance to countries like Chile and Bolivia that are seeking to combat terrorism or drug trafficking is "sort of the same as shooting ourselves in the foot," Ms. Rice told reporters on Friday . . . Ms. Rice said, however, that the Bush administration had limited flexibility in restoring aid because a law enacted by Congress required the cutoff of military aid to countries that did not exempt American citizens from being brought before the court.

At least 30 countries have declined to enact an exemption, including 12 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the time the law was adopted, the Defense Department supported it on grounds that American military officials based overseas might be brought before the court. More recently, administration officials said Defense Department officials had become concerned about the loss of military cooperation with key allies.

this is precisely what tends to piss off countries that might otherwise be strong u.s. allies... the u.s. always wants to have its cake and eat it too...

an amusing little sidenote... in an apparently unintentional move, it looks like evo morales got one over on condi... (you gotta watch out for those aymará ... they're crafty little devils...)

In a friendly but pointed gesture, [Morales] gave Ms. Rice a small guitar decorated on the front with real leaves from a coca plant in lacquer. Ms. Rice, perhaps not realizing that the decoration was from the plant that the United States has sought to eradicate, then smiled and strummed the guitar for television cameras. American officials said Bolivian leader was clearly trying to show how growing the plant that is made into cocaine is a part of his nation's culture.

there's never exactly been an overabundance of understanding of indigenous culture and tradition among the world's ruling powers...

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