Foreign Policy

It is impossible to spend even a few days in Europe without encountering the striking anti-Americanism that suffuses the political media of the continent. Barack Obama’s spiritual mentor Rev. Jeremiah Wright would feel quite at home here.

Extensive polling shows that this constant drumbeat of leftist propaganda has also filtered down to ordinary citizens.

This “unpopularity” has been known to Americans for years but evidence suggests we haven’t understood its root causes or decided what to do about it.

The terrorist Cuban regime is attempting a totalitarian succession. It is clear that dictator Fidel Castro's health is failing and that sooner or later he will die. However, the transfer of titles from one dictator to the next does not change anything for the Cuban people. Even from his death bed, this terrorist thug is still oppressing the Cuban people and calling the shots for his totalitarian regime.

What we must continue to demand is real change in Cuba.

I recently came across two news reports that I placed copies of in my files.

Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has declared the war in Iraq "lost" and Democrat Presidential candidate John Edwards doesn't even believe there is a war calling it "just a bumper sticker slogan," most people understand that the likes of Reid and Edwards are more interested in opposing and embarrassing George Bush than in objective analysis, sound policy, and effective leadership.

The very bloody coup by Hamas in Gaza is a chilling reminder that the legacy of Arafat lives on in the Palestinian and Arab world. Hamas is heavily funded by Iran and a puppet of Syria, with the sworn purpose of destroying Israel. As we have seen recently, they obviously have no problem destroying fellow Palestinian Arab Muslims either when they belong to the secular Fatah party of the elected President Mahmoud Abbas.

The French wisely elected Nikolas Sarkozy, 52, to be their newest President. Saying adieu to Jacques Chirac could hardly have come soon enough, but there are far better reasons to be pleased with Sarkozy’s election.

Opening Remarks
The 2nd International Conference on "Educating for Tolerance: The Case of Resurgent Anti-Semitism."
Paris, May 12, 2003

Bob Beauprez
Member of Congress