Talks Quotes
Some Americans and Europeans have urged Putin to solve the Chechen problem politically---to sit down and negotiate with the leaders. The Chechen terrorists have been particularly brutal killing hundreds of children at a time. Putin felt that it was easy for Americans and Europeans to tell him to negotiation with terrorist murders while they would never do so with the terrorists that had killed their people in their countries. Chechen is a province of Russia where fundamentalist Islamic terrorists mounted an armed, violent, terrorist insurrection and then spread their terrorism to other parts of Russia. Brussels was the political capital of Europe.
DeKlerk had just become president of South Africa which was enmeshed in a brutal system of apartheid—racial separation with the 10% white population controlling the 90% black majority. The black political parties were illegal and net even recognized and there was no negotiation at all. The country was a world pariah, boycotted by many in the world including much of the Untied States. When De Klerk became president no one had any idea that he would make such a radical break with the past. However, he announced the lifting of the ban on the Black political parties, and the release of Nelson Mandela who had served 26 years in prison, and then made this famous statement which led to the modern state of South Africa. DeKlerk and Mandela shared the Nobel peace prize for their remarkable achievement.
Duche had given the first prayer in the First Continental Congress {583741} and was an early patriot. However, he was captured by the British and pressured to write to Washington asking him to stop the fighting. John Adams wrote to his wife: “Mr. Duche I am sorry to inform you has turned out an Apostate and a Traytor. Poor Man! I pitty his Weakness, and detest his Wickedness.”
Giuliani had designs on the Republican Presidential nomination. However, his professional experience had little to do with foreign affairs or foreign policy. As a moderate, New York Republican, he needed to appeal to the extreme right wing base that could veto a Republican candidate. So he wrote this article and presented very articulate, well expressed versions of, right wing, conservative, ideological principles. This one took the old principles of the British Empire where the King or Queen even talking to or writing a foreign diplomat was a great honor to be reserved for those nations who followed the Empire’s desires. A more pragmatic—more democratic view is that diplomats and leaders should talk to anyone if they might be persuasive in furthering our national interest. Despite his oratorical improvement in right wing ideology, Giuliani could not get any traction with the right wing of his party and gave up his Presidential ambitions for 2012.
