By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, January 25 -- Foreign policy was obviously an afterthought in President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech Tuesday night in Washington. But why tell only the good news?
When Obama jumped from South Sudan to Tunisia, without even a mention of Darfur, a message was being sent. After November's election, Team Obama wants wins. The Republican response by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, as it turned out, did not mention foreign affairs.
So Obama did not mention Myanmar or Ivory Coast, much less the tens of thousands of civilians killed in Sri Lanka. Less than twelve hours after a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing mostly about corruption at the United Nations, he did not mention the UN.
The cameras several times panned to show Obama's UN Ambassador Susan Rice, as well as Transportation Secretary LaHood, who has come to the UN albeit to talk about texting and driving.
When Obama mentioned South Sudan, the cameras cut to John Kerry. Who would the cameras have shown for Darfur, after Kerry “de-linked” it from taking Sudan off the state sponsors of terrorism list?
One country, strangely, was mentioned four or five time in the speech: South Korea. The technology, the pedagogy and new free trade agreement, leading up to deals with Panama and Colombia.
The last two may represent an attempt to shore up the US sphere of influence, and that Myanmar and Sri Lanka, after Africa, is being ceded to China. Then Paul Ryan spoke only about money. And so it goes.
