I believe there could have been a 3rd choice,,,,,,,,,,,,, lifting embargo with certain limitations. This might encourage castro to keep moving in the right direction to lift more
The first thing I thought of when I heard about this is I'm finally going to get to smoke one of those Cuban cigars I've heard about my whole life......
I have one question, If the embargo is lifted, does it mean we start sending them foreign aid? If it does my vote is a giant HELL NO.
David - If one of life's urges, for you, is to smoke a Cuban cigar, you only need to take a 2-hour car trip.
Visit any number of Canadian tobacconists, and tell the proprietor that, "I'm here about purchasing a fine Cohiba".
To avoid any legal troubles, though, I'd suggest you pronounce the word (about) as "a-boot".
And, this should go without saying, pay for it with Canadian money. Do not use your credit card, and, definitely DO NOT try to bring it back across the border. From what I've read, you could be fined $250,000 for that. You'd be far better off being caught in your backyard smoking a joint (which is, what, $100 fine?).
" This might encourage castro to keep moving in the right direction to lift more "
Rick, what makes you think that the Castros have moved at all in the right direction? I've seen no movement toward better human rights and away from dictatorship.
Speaking of dictators, Emperor obama has once again ignored the constitution, bypassed congress, and forced his defective philosophies down our throats. Mark my words - and in spite of the negative votes I will get - its going to get much worse over the next two years.
The president does not need to consult congress on normalizing relations with Cuba.
The Constitution requires the president to bring treaties before Congress for a vote, but other than that, the president is pretty much in charge of foreign affairs.
All Obama is doing is undoing the mistakes of the Kennedy Administration and perpetrated by each succeeding administration. He should be given credit for getting at least one thing right.
And Cuban cigars, aren't worth the effort. There's dozens of great smokes easily available that are as good or better than what comes out of Cuba. The embargo has created a mystique about Cuban cigars that hardly matches reality (though, there are very good Cuban cigars, of course).
Howard, are you saying he can, by himself, "normalize" relations with Iran, N. Korea, and the like? Even if they are deemed terrorist nations? If that is the case, thats scary as hell. He may very well do that in his last 2 years with his warped "if we play nice, they'll play nice" mentality.
As far as Kennedy's actions, I think they were appropriate at that time. With Russia bringing nukes into Cuba - at Cuba's request, both the blockade and embargo were necessary - at that time.
As to whether or not the continued embargo has been necessary or effective, I have to think that the next 9 presidents (including obama until now) must have kept it in place for a reason.
Clearly, the embargo had nothing to do with Soviet actions.
Kennedy surrounded himself with foreign policy hawks who sought confrontation with the Soviet Union and created problems in Cuba and got us eventually mired in Vietnam.
The embargo has been kept in place as a matter of pure politics -- to appease hawks in the War Party (these are both Republicans and Democrats) and because Cuban nationals in Florida have long been a power block in that state, which is important in presidential elections.
The goal of the embargo was to topple the Castro regime. Clearly, in its one stated goal, the embargo was an utter and complete failure.
Howard, do you think we should not have blocked the Russians from bringing those missles to Cuba? You think Kennedy made the wrong decision on that?
The embargo was put in place because Casto decided to align himself with Russia instead of the United States. It all basically started when he wanted U.S. owned oil refineries in Cuba to process Russian oil, when they refused Casto nationalized the refineries and thats when the U.S. stopped importing sugar cane and other items from Cuba. It all snow balled from there.
I believe there could have
I believe there could have been a 3rd choice,,,,,,,,,,,,, lifting embargo with certain limitations. This might encourage castro to keep moving in the right direction to lift more
The first thing I thought of
The first thing I thought of when I heard about this is I'm finally going to get to smoke one of those Cuban cigars I've heard about my whole life......
I have one question, If the embargo is lifted, does it mean we start sending them foreign aid? If it does my vote is a giant HELL NO.
David - If one of life's
David - If one of life's urges, for you, is to smoke a Cuban cigar, you only need to take a 2-hour car trip.
Visit any number of Canadian tobacconists, and tell the proprietor that, "I'm here about purchasing a fine Cohiba".
To avoid any legal troubles, though, I'd suggest you pronounce the word (about) as "a-boot".
And, this should go without saying, pay for it with Canadian money. Do not use your credit card, and, definitely DO NOT try to bring it back across the border. From what I've read, you could be fined $250,000 for that. You'd be far better off being caught in your backyard smoking a joint (which is, what, $100 fine?).
Hope this helps. Happy holidays!
" This might encourage castro
" This might encourage castro to keep moving in the right direction to lift more "
Rick, what makes you think that the Castros have moved at all in the right direction? I've seen no movement toward better human rights and away from dictatorship.
Speaking of dictators, Emperor obama has once again ignored the constitution, bypassed congress, and forced his defective philosophies down our throats. Mark my words - and in spite of the negative votes I will get - its going to get much worse over the next two years.
The president does not need
The president does not need to consult congress on normalizing relations with Cuba.
The Constitution requires the president to bring treaties before Congress for a vote, but other than that, the president is pretty much in charge of foreign affairs.
The president usually establishes policy in foreign affairs (http://fpc.state.gov/6172.htm)
All Obama is doing is undoing the mistakes of the Kennedy Administration and perpetrated by each succeeding administration. He should be given credit for getting at least one thing right.
And Cuban cigars, aren't worth the effort. There's dozens of great smokes easily available that are as good or better than what comes out of Cuba. The embargo has created a mystique about Cuban cigars that hardly matches reality (though, there are very good Cuban cigars, of course).
Howard, are you saying he
Howard, are you saying he can, by himself, "normalize" relations with Iran, N. Korea, and the like? Even if they are deemed terrorist nations? If that is the case, thats scary as hell. He may very well do that in his last 2 years with his warped "if we play nice, they'll play nice" mentality.
As far as Kennedy's actions, I think they were appropriate at that time. With Russia bringing nukes into Cuba - at Cuba's request, both the blockade and embargo were necessary - at that time.
As to whether or not the continued embargo has been necessary or effective, I have to think that the next 9 presidents (including obama until now) must have kept it in place for a reason.
The embargo was started in
The embargo was started in October, 1960.
The Bay of Pigs was April, 1961.
The Cuban missile crisis was October 1962.
Clearly, the embargo had nothing to do with Soviet actions.
Kennedy surrounded himself with foreign policy hawks who sought confrontation with the Soviet Union and created problems in Cuba and got us eventually mired in Vietnam.
The embargo has been kept in place as a matter of pure politics -- to appease hawks in the War Party (these are both Republicans and Democrats) and because Cuban nationals in Florida have long been a power block in that state, which is important in presidential elections.
The goal of the embargo was to topple the Castro regime. Clearly, in its one stated goal, the embargo was an utter and complete failure.
Howard, do you think we
Howard, do you think we should not have blocked the Russians from bringing those missles to Cuba? You think Kennedy made the wrong decision on that?
The embargo was put in place because Casto decided to align himself with Russia instead of the United States. It all basically started when he wanted U.S. owned oil refineries in Cuba to process Russian oil, when they refused Casto nationalized the refineries and thats when the U.S. stopped importing sugar cane and other items from Cuba. It all snow balled from there.
The embargo and the missile
The embargo and the missile crisis had nothing to do with each other, other than US provocations of Cuba drove Castro deeper into the Soviet sphere.
The embargo was two years before the missile crisis.
The embargo was clearly a mistake. The Bay of Pigs was clearly a mistake.
Eliminate those two mistakes, and you probably don't have a missile crisis.
Economic sanctions against
Economic sanctions against Cuba actually started in 1958.
Neither Eisenhower nor Kennedy sought congressional approval for these sanctions.
What US provocation drove
What US provocation drove Castro to Russia?
http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1891359,00.html
Don't expect Cuban cigars any
Don't expect Cuban cigars any time soon.
http://reason.com/archives/2014/12/21/what-obamas-cuba-deal-means-for-t…